Zootopia: the Arctic Diamond
by shadowsdad841
Summary: Nick and Judy are tasked with finding out who is stealing diamonds from every jeweler and pawn shop in Tundra Town, and what they find will throw them against the most dangerous gang in Zootopia: the Nocturn Knights. This new case will test the very fabric of their relationship, and with so much to lose, their true feelings come to the surface.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The new case

It had been six months since Nick became a police officer, and the Night Howler case was behind us. Lessons were learned by predator and prey alike, and I couldn't have been happier. I mean look at me, Judy Hopps, respected ZPD cop. And as for my partner and best friend Nick Wilde, he quit his life of hustling (for the most part) and joined the force. Life could not have been more perfect. Crime had gone down, and we at the ZPD had a little time to relax, that is until that dark and stormy day when things once again began to unravel the very fiber of Zootopia's peaceful way of living.

It began as most mornings, I arrived forty-five minutes before roll call to finish auditing my notes on our last case. Just some timber wolves throwing a howling party a little too late at night, disturbing the peace. Nothing too bad. I finished just in time to see everyone drag themselves into the room. I guess their get-up-and-go got-up-and-went.

I hopped out of my seat and greeted everyone. "C'mon guys, we're the proud members of the ZPD, show some pride!"

Delgato rolled his eyes, his mane was a bit disheveled. "Hopps, must you be so nauseatingly chipper every morning? I haven't even had my coffee yet."

"Aw you guys, you don't need coffee. Just take a sip of that wonderful drink called justice!" I said gleefully.

"Don't make me gag…" said Delgato.

So there I was, the only one happy to be there that morning. All of my fellow officers were down in the dumps. I looked around and noticed that Nick wasn't here yet, he was running five, scratch that, six minutes late.

"Where is that fox?" I whispered to myself. He was usually late by one to three minutes; I check the clock every morning when he creeps in. Every time he's late, I lecture him, and he always says "Okay Carrots, I'll be on time tomorrow." Apparently for him, tomorrow is always a day away.

Ooh he is gonna get an earful today. I thought to myself.

"Okay, okay pipe down everyone!"

I looked over at the podium and there was Nick standing on top of it with a pair of glasses that looked just like the Chief's.

"That's right it's me: Chief Buffalo-Butt." he said in a remarkably accurate accent of Chief Bogo.

"We've got a few items on the docket today. First off, crime is down today thanks to everyone's hard work. Especially the work of the incredibly talented and extremely intelligent Nicolas Wilde and his adorable sidekick, Officer Carrots." Nick pointed at me and winked.

Everyone in the room began to snicker, but I wasn't so amused. He was going to get us in trouble. Besides, I was certainly no sidekick.

Nick puffed out his chest and had a serious look on his face "…But who cares? I sure don't, because I have a major personality problem. In fact, my biggest role model is Simon Growl from Zootopia's got talent. I sound just like him, don't I? Well heck, what do you expect? I'm still trying to hide my ' _secret'_ obsession with Gazelle from everyone, even though you can clearly see a poster of her right behind my filing cabinet and have every one of her songs memorized."

The room roared with laughter, which was better than everyone moping around.

"Now, what's next? I'm going to have to assign each of you a few more cases a week, because I'm just sooo busy with paperwork. I swear I'm not fawning with my Gazelle dancer app."

Everyone was laughing even harder, but they suddenly stopped. Chief Bogo had walked in the room, his eye was twitching with annoyance. He crept behind Nick while he was still talking.

"You got a problem? I don't care, if you make me mad I'll just assign you to parking duty for all eternity and-"

"Ahem." Chief Bogo coughed, interrupting Nick's performance.

Nick gulped hard, turned around and looked up at Bogo. "H-hey sir, what's going on?"

"You're the incredibly talented and extremely intelligent fox, you figure it out!"

Nick cracked a nervous smile and took his glasses off. "I was just lightening up the room, sir."

"Well then you've done your job. Go sit down, Wilde." said Chief Bogo, glaring at him.

"Yes sir, Chief Buffalo buh… I mean Chief Bogo sir. Love your new gun holster sir, is it custom made?"

"Sit…down."

Nick scurried off of the podium and jumped up to our chair. He patted my head and gave his signature sly grin. "Mornin' Carrots." he whispered.

"You're gonna get us in so much trouble." I whispered back.

"Nah, the Chief is a good guy. We'll be fine."

"Quiet, everyone. I've got one major item to discuss with you this morning. Although crime has indeed gone down, it's still out there. We've noticed a spike in criminal activity in Tundra Town, there have been multiple robberies in several jewelry stores and pawn shops all over the fringed streets of Tundra Town; From the shady Icepick St. to the ritzy Borealis Blvd."

He adjusted his glasses to look at the file more closely. "According to most eyewitness accounts, the culprits appear to be two male polar bears driving in a white limonene."

"Polar bears in white limo, huh?" Nick whispered to himself. I knew what he was thinking, it sounded awfully familiar, but it was hard to believe.

"Wilde, Hopps!"

We both looked up. "Yes, sir?"

"You two will lead this investigation. Go to tundra Town and interrogate Mr. Big, he may very well have something to do with this."

I immediately contested. "With all due respect, Chief. Mr. Big and his whole crime syndicate have turned over a new leaf since the Night Howler incident. He's opened an orphanage for lost and abandoned rodents, he's started half a dozen charities, he's even helping the mayor by funding the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. He's a real sweetheart when you get to know him."

"Well this _sweetheart_ was at one time the biggest crime boss in Tundra Town, all of Zootopia even. And old habits die hard."

"Excuse me sir?" said Nick. He had one eyebrow raised and his arms were crossed.

"You have something to say, Wilde?"

"Yes I do. I'm still not exactly on the best of terms with Mr. Big, but Carrots is right. He's changed, and as long as the past is in the past, we shouldn't go pointing fingers without having all of the facts."

"Don't be naïve, Wilde. Think like a cop, it'll do you some good. This shrew was so deep into crime, if he was any deeper he'd be poking his head out in China. Now I understand the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty', but Mr. Big is looking more and more suspicious. You're all dismissed, and I don't want to hear another word until after you've gone to talk to him."

Nick and I were walking to the car. It was raining even harder now and he was gripping his umbrella incredibly tight. He had an intense look on his face like he was deep in thought. He was uncharacteristically quiet. We got into the car and he slammed the door.

He looked over at me "Ya know what? I don't think things have changed that much since the Night Howler incident."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He took a deep breath. "Oh it's nothing. Let's go pay good ol' Mr. Big a visit. And hey you can see your goddaughter while we're there." He said, trying to change the subject.

I feigned a smile. "Okay, let's go." I was a little worried about him. He came a long way, but I know he still had some insecurities about himself that he never let surface, even with me. But I knew him, and I knew he never liked to show when things got to him. And I could tell that what the Chief said got under his skin.

So off we went to Tundra Town, to visit an old friend of ours. Little did I know that things were about to get wild once again in Zootopia.


	2. Chapter 2: Mr Big's request

Chapter 2: Mr. Big's request

-Told by Nick-

The drive to Tundra Town was quiet, I wasn't really in the mood to talk and I could tell that Carrots knew something was up. She was silently reading a magazine, occasionally glancing up at me with her big, bright eyes and her nose twitching with concern. So I broke the silence to make her quit killing me with concern.

"What'cha reading there, Carrots?"

"Hmm? Oh I'm reading about a tribe of red foxes in Russia."

"You're reading about red foxes? You wanna know more about me, is that it? How cute."

She slammed her book closed. "N-no of course not, and don't call me cute! It just so happens that these Russian red foxes are not run of the mill."

"Neither am I, Fluff."

"I know you're not Nick, I'm not talking about character or ability, I'm talking about genetics. Many of them are showing some interesting genetic variation."

"You mean they're sprouting wings or something?"

"No, I mean that some of the red foxes aren't red at all. Some of them are brown, or black, some are even all white. There are some with stubby ears, long ears, droopy ears, It's all really interesting."

"What I find interesting is how in the world any red fox would want to live that far north. It's cold up there all the time. I don't even like Tundra Town all that much."

She looked up at me, her frown flipped upside down. She playfully hit me which, between you and me, was deceptively strong.

"Didn't you used to come up here all the time for your pawpsickle operation?"

"That was business, my dear bunny. I had to come up here. You'd never find me up here for pleasure. I don't so much like the freezing cold."

"Oh Nick, where in Zootopia do you like? Savannah Square is too hot, Tundra Town is too cold, the Rainforest District is too wet."

"I like downtown, that's my kind of place."

"I thought foxes were supposed to be able to adapt to most environments?"

"I adapt just fine, thank you! I just know where I'm most comfortable."

she laughed. "If you say so." She looked out of the frosted window. We were getting close to Mr. Big's estate.

I turned up the street and we approached the front gate. I rolled down my window and saw that they had just installed a new intercom.

"Look at that, Carrots! They put in an intercom…watch this." Ihit the button on the intercom. There was a brief moment of silence.

"What do you want?" said the rather irritated voice coming from the intercom.

"Yeah, I'll have the number five special with a large Claw-co-cola and my friend here would like the widdle bunny kids meal with a small carrot juice."

"Ugh, it's the fox…" said the voice on the intercom.

"Is that you, Raymond? Don't sound too excited to see me, you might just pass out."

"Why are you here Wilde?" asked Raymond.

"We need to speak to your boss real quick, so if you could just buzz us on in that would be great."

"The boss got nothin' to say to you, Wilde."

A high-pitched squeaky voice came on the intercom "Wait, Nicky's here? Is Juuudy with him?"

"This don't concern you, Fru Fru." said Raymond.

"Oh shut up and move. Juuudy, are you there with Nicky?" Her voice rang loudly in my ear.

Carrots unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped onto my lap a little too hard.

"Watch where you're leaping, Carrots! Geez."

"Oops, sorry." she said. She immediately directed her attention back onto the intercom. "Hey Fru Fru, what's up?"

Fru Fru squealed with delight. "Oooh I'm good _Juuudy_ , I'm just trying to get _your_ goddaughter to try these adorable leopard-print jeggings I got for her. Oh my gosh, when I saw they had them for babies I about died. Well not literally, there was no giant donut this time." she giggled uncontrollably.

"I really wish someone would drop a giant donut on my head right about now…" I muttered.

Carrots elbowed my side.

"Oof, what?" I said.

"Hush. Anyway, Fru Fru. Nick and I came to see your father to ask him a few questions. But I also had to come to see my goddaughter. Could you let us in?"

"Sure thing, doll. Hey Ray, let them in."

"I should probably ask the boss first-"

There was a crunching sound. "Ouch, did you just bite me?"

"Let them in, Or I'll bite harder!"

There was another moment of silence, then we were buzzed in and the gate opened.

Carrots hopped back to her seat "Okay, let's go."

"Woah woah woah there, officer Fluff. I'm not moving this car until you buckle your seat belt, don't wanna break your goody-two-shoes routine do ya?"

"Is that sarcasm? Don't make me tase you."

"I don't hear that seatbelt clicking."

She grunted and put her seatbelt on. I rolled up my window and drove up the driveway to Mr. Big's manor. I parked and we got out.

Carrots turned around and got a disgusted look on her face. "Wow, your parking job is awful." she folded her arms and gave me a judgmental glare.

"Eh, it's good enough. Now let's get this over with." I walked up the steps to his house, and something cold and wet hit me in the back of the head. I turned around and Carrots was right behind me, throwing snowballs at me. One hit me right in the face.

I wiped my face off "What are we, six?"

"Just getting in some target practice." she threw another one at me and it missed.

"First off, you still throw like a bunny." I said as I picked up a wad of snow and made a giant snowball.

"Wait, I call timeout!" she said.

"There's no time out, this means war Carrots!" I said as I chucked the snowball at her. It hit her in the face, right on target.

She wiped her face off.

"Hey Santa Paws, what're you doing here? It's not even Christmas." I said as I snapped a picture of her. I showed it to her, she missed a spot on her face and it looked like a beard. I couldn't keep in the laughter any longer. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just your face was so funny I couldn't help but la-" she tackled me and we both fell off of the porch and landed in a huge pile of snow.

Hopps was on top of me, she grabbed a huge wad of snow and dumped it on my head. "Do you give up?"

I shook the snow off. "Never!" I gently pushed her off of me and I piled the snow onto her.

"Do you give up, Carrots?" I dug through the snow to get her out, but I couldn't find her. "Carrots?" I dug deeper. "Carrots?" I began to panic. "Hopps, where are you?"

"Right here." she said as she lunged out of the snow. We rolled down the hill and hit a pine tree.

"I got ya, you got out foxed by a bunny!" she exclaimed.

"Oh it's on now." I said.

We both heard a rumble coming from above us. We looked up and to our terror every bit of snow that was on the pine tree came crashing down on us.

We both shot up from the pile of snow, shivering. We looked at each other and started laughing.

"I guess we'll call this a draw for now." she said.

"But I was just about to get you good, rabbit."

"How about a temporary truce?" she stuck out her hand for a handshake. "We are on the job, after all."

"Fine, temporary truce. But I'll get my revenge, Carrots." I shook her hand.

She looked at me with a devilish smile. "Woops, had my fingers crossed." She pushed me back down into the snow and ran up towards the house.

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…" I said as I gathered as much snow as I could and ran after her. She made it to the front porch of the manor and stopped.

"Aha, now I got you!" I said as I threw the snow at her. She ducked and it all hit Raymond as he opened the front door.

"Oops. Sorry, Raymond."

"The boss will see you now." he said, obviously annoyed.

"Great." I said as I looked at my bunny nemesis. She was grinning ear to ear.

As we walked in, I took the little bit of snow I had left over and poured it down her back.

She hopped all over the foyer trying to get the snow out of her uniform. "Cold, cold that's cold!"

"That'll teach you to mess with me, Carrots." I said, feeling victorious.

"You sly fox." she said as she was about to come in for an attack. She was stopped by Raymond who cleared his throat to get our attention.

"The boss is in the meeting room."

The two of us followed him quietly, trying not to laugh. We walked through the door and saw Mr. Big on the desk table along with Fru Fru and little baby Judy.

Mr. Big sat up in his chair. "Judy, my child. How are you?" he said in that annoying squeaky voice we all know and love.

He held out his arms and Carrots leaned in, and he kissed her cheeks.

"I'm good Mr. Big, how are you?"

"Oh I can't complain, I have my daughter and my granddaughter to keep me company."

"Yeah, we're staying here while my little maggot muffin is off on business." said Fru Fru.

 _Is that really a pet name? Ew, talk about gross._ I thought to myself.

Mr. Big looked over at me. "Oh, I see you brought the fox."

"Nice to see you, Mr. Big sir. How are you holding up?"

"I'd be better if I didn't remember that my poor Grandmama was buried in that skunk-butt rug every time I look at that ugly mug of yours."

"Sorry about that..." I said for the five-thousandth time. I mean come on, it's not like grammy _knows_ the rug was made out of a skunk's butt.

"Me too, Nicky, me too. Anyway, what brings you all the way up here?"

Carrots hopped up on the table. "Well, you may want to sit down sir. We need to discuss something serious."

"I am sitting." he said.

"Right then. Anyway, have you heard about the rash of jewelry store thefts in the area?"

"Yes, I have."

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Child, do you think that I had something to do with it?" asked Mr. Big.

"Juuudy, Daddy and the guys have all turned their lives around. They're all nothin but do-gooders." insisted Fru Fru.

"Don't worry, we don't think that you guys had anything to do with it. Nick and I defended your honor when the chief suspected you."

Mr. Big looked over at me. "You defended me, Nicky?"

"Yes, of course I did. I may not be your favorite person but I know you've changed, and I hate it when people wrongfully profile someone because of what animal they are and what they did in the past when they've clearly changed."

He raised his bushy little eyebrow at me. "I guess you're not as much of a spineless jerk after all. Thank you for defending me and my boys Nicky, and you too Judy."

I clenched my jaw. "Any time…worm breath." I whispered.

"What was that, fox?" he said.

"N-nothing sir."

He scratched his head. "So what made your chief think that I had anything to do with these burglaries? I'll let you know I own half of the jewelry stores that were hit."

"Well, many of the witnesses said that they saw two polar bears in a white limo at each of the crime scenes."

"Well none of _my_ boys would ever stoop so low as to steal, especially from me. I pride myself in having a loyal crew. I'll tell ya, I think this is a frame job."

Carrots' ears perked up. "What makes you think that, sir?"

"It just so happens that one of my limousines was stolen about a week ago, and someone has tampered with the GPS system so we can't track it. And I have a pretty good idea who it is."

"Who?" she asked.

"I've recently gotten threats from the Nocturne Knights, they've been angry at me for taking the highroad and helping the coppers."

"What!?" I yelled, my ears immediately started to twitch. "The Nocturne Knights, are you sure?"

Hopps was confused. "Who are the Nocturne Knights?"

"They're only the single most dangerous gang in all of Zootopia-"

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Big.

"…now that you're no longer living a life of crime, obviously."

"So they threatened you? Where are they now, sir?" Carrots sounded much more excited than she should have been.

Mr. Big lowered his head. "Oh child, I can't let you go against the likes of them. They have absolutely no respect for life, they would tear you and the fox apart."

"Mr. Big, I promise you that Nick and I are more than capable, and we will bring this gang to justice."

"Carrots, I don't think just the two of us will cut it this time."

"Wilde has a point. This is not just some street gang. They are a highly organized group, with three vicious Underbosses and a secretive and extremely feared leader."

"If they're so bad, why haven't I heard of them? I've never heard anyone at the ZPD talk about them."

I turned her around and looked her in the eyes. "Hopps, listen to me. These guys are big time, but they're only known among certain groups."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her intrigue turned into worry.

"It's the predators, child." said Mr. Big. "Not all predators, only those who have ever done business on the Nocturnal Strip."

"The what?"

"The Nocturnal Strip. It's a part of Zootopia that lies underground. Most of it looks like a ritzy and extravagant strip of casinos, clubs and theaters. But in truth it is full of corruption and treachery. No cop will go down there, the Nocturne Knights run the entire strip."

She looked at me, her nose was twitching again. "How do you know about this, Nick?"

I took a deep breath, I really never wanted to tell her about my past indiscretions. "I may have done a few…business transactions down there before. It's a part of my life I'm really not proud of, Carrots. I don't like talking about it. But trust me, the Nocturnal Strip is not a place for a rabbit, especially not one that's a cop."

"Well we have to do something. Mr. Big, sir. Please tell us what you know."

Mr. Big sighed. "If you're sure about this. I have an informant who lives down on the strip. He used to be the forth Underboss of the Nocturne Knights, but had a change of heart when they betrayed him. After one of my boys saved him from being iced by the gang, he became one of my most trusted friends. He's a wolf named Shadow, he told me that there is a performer at the Arendelle Casino that has some information about them that may ruin the whole gang. She wants out of the Nocturnal Strip scene for good. She's an arctic fox that goes by the name of Aurora Foxtrot."

"Aurora Foxtrot? As in Madame Shade Foxtrot's granddaughter?" said Carrots.

"One and the same."

"What is the granddaughter of one of Zootopia's wealthiest women doing down there?" I asked.

"Shadow told me that the gang is forcing her to perform at the casino. They are threatening her grandmother. That poor woman is blind and frail, and they are using her to manipulate her granddaughter. It's despicable."

Judy tapped her foot on the desk. "Nick and I will take care of it. We'll take Aurora into protective custody. You can trust us, sir. Right Nick?"

"Sure thing. But seriously, We're gonna need the entire force for something like this."

"No, Fox. That would be a bad idea. As soon as they get wind of a police crackdown they will get rid of every trace of evidence, including the young Ms. Foxtrot. I know them, they're good at being bad."

Carrots looked at me. "What are we going to do, Nick?"

I thought for a moment. "We could…go undercover."

"How? You and I are too well known in Zootopia to go undercover. We'll be too easily recognized."

"Not down there. Most of them don't even go topside, and those that do certainly don't pay attention to the news unless it has to do with them. The only ones who would recognize us are the higher-ups, and they're never out and about. And we'll be disguised. We'll be in and out without being seen. It'll be perfect."

"But you said it's no place for a rabbit."

I grinned at her. "It can be if you're with a dashing high-roller fox."

She frowned, and one ear flopped over her face. "What?"

"Yeah, I'll be a high-stakes gambling fox and you can be my good luck charm."

She folded her arms. "Did you just make a lucky rabbit's foot joke? Not funny, Nick."

"No, you're my good luck charm, Carrots. I feel like I'm the luckiest fox alive when I'm with you."

Fru Fru put her paw on her mouth "Aww, that's so sweet."

"And also a load of garbage." said Hopps. "But I'll do it."

"The Nocturne Knights need put down. Take care of them and clear my name. But promise me you'll be careful." said Mr. Big.

"You got it, sir. We've got to go now."

"Wait Juuudy." Said Fru Fru.

"What is it?"

"Won't you at least say bye bye to your goddaughter?"

She smiled and bent down and gently kissed the tiny little shrew.

"Bye, little Judy. I'll so you soon. Let's go Nick." said Carrots, her demeanor changed from scared to that confident rabbit I know and love.

I began to follow her out.

"Wait, Nicky!" Fru Fru yelled.

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Were you serious about Juuudy being your lucky charm?"

I smiled and looked at the door to make sure she wasn't there. "Yes, she is my lucky charm. I'm one lucky fox to have her as a partner, and a friend."

"Aww, look at Nicky blushing daddy!"

I quickly looked away from them. "I am not, it's the lighting in here."

"Take good care of her, Nicky. She's a special girl." said Mr. Big.

"I will, sir. That's a promise." I said.

I walked outside, she was already in the car. She honked for me to get it. It looked like she was driving this time. I walked over to the passenger's side and got in.

"Ready to go, Nick? We've got a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's get outta here." I said as I slinked back into the seat.

"Put your seat belt on." she insisted.

"Yeah, yeah. Goody-two-shoes." I slipped the seat belt on and looked over at her. I sighed and thought to myself _: I really am a lucky fox._


	3. Chapter 3: Undercover shopping

Chapter 3: Undercover shopping

-Told by Judy-

"Okay Carrots, if we're gonna go undercover, you're gonna have to dress the part." Nick said as I dropped him off at his apartment.

"Alright, I guess I'll look through my closet to see what I can find."

He looked at me judgmentally. "You're going to look through _your_ closet?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with my closet?"

"Oh nothing, except it looks like you got all of your clothes from _Once Upon a Kitten."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, folding my arms.

"It means that your outfits are seven kinds of happy happy joy joy. Too colorful for the Nocturnal Strip. You gotta think dark colors, if not you're going to stick out like a platypus at a beaver convention."

"Not _all_ of my outfits are colorful."

"Carrots, the only outfit I've ever seen you wear that isn't nauseatingly bright and cheery is your uniform. Hey there's an idea, you should wear your police uniform while we're down there. That won't get us killed or anything."

"I guess I could go pick up something to wear for the occasion."

"Great, make sure you get something nice. We're going to Arendelle Casino, that's the fanciest casino on the strip. So don't go wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I'd get a dress, one that compliments your bunny figure." he poked my belly and grinned.

I slapped his hand away. "You want me to get a dress? I hate wearing dresses."

"Carrots, it's not like I made up the rules about going undercover. You're just going to have to get over it. Besides, You'd look cute in a dress."

"You just want to see me suffer don't you? And don't call me cute."

He playfully stroked my ears. "C'mon, Hopps. It's not like I love wearing a tuxedo. It is what it is."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."

"That's a good sport. Well, would you look at the time? I'm gonna hit the hay, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow. See ya Carrots, make sure you rest up."

He got out of the car and up to his apartment. He turned around and waved obnoxiously. I couldn't help but smile. That dumb fox had a way of doing that. No matter how aggravated he made me he would always do something that made me smile. But the fact remained that I did not like to wear dresses.

I got home and went to bed. I couldn't sleep because of the excitement of this new case. My mind started racing. _This could be another big one. It involves a gang that controls an entire area of Zootopia, who has the granddaughter of one of the wealthiest women in the city against her will, and they are threatening Mr. Big of all people. How presumptuous were these guys? And just how dangerous are they they if I've never heard of them? But must be pretty bad for Nick and Mr. Big to be scared of them. What's worse is we couldn't involve the rest of the ZPD because it may cause the Nocturne Knights to do something drastic and we may take some serious collateral damage._ _I don't know what to expect, I need to be prepared for anything._

I woke up the next morning with a text from Nick.

 **Don't be mad, I turned your alarm off so that you could get some sleep, we're probably gonna have a long night tonight. I told Chief Buffalo-butt that you were out sick this am. Go to Bunningdales to get that dress Cutie. ;P**

I sighed angrily and texted back.

 **Stop calling me cute :(…and do you know how much money Bunningdales is? I think I'm just going to go to the thrift store.**

He messaged back seconds later.

 **Don't go to the thrift store, go to Bunningdales. Don't worry about money, I got you Carrots. I asked Mr. Big to transfer some money into your account and I'll pay him back later. You're welcome, I'll be over at 7 tonight. I'll take care of everything else. See you tonight Cutie :D**

I really tried to be mad, but I couldn't be. I was too psyched about the case, I was going undercover for the first time with my best friend. But I figured I would let him think I was mad. So I sent the infamous **K** reply. _That oughta make him sweat!_ I thought to myself.

I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. I guess I was heading to Bunningdales. On my walk there, I checked my bank statement to see how much Mr. Big transferred. When I looked at the amount, I freaked.

"six-thousand dollars!?" I yelled as I was standing in the middle of Downtown Zootopia. That's right, Mr. Big had loaned me six-thousand dollars! How much did he think I was going to spend on a stupid dress? I mean Bunningdales is expensive, but not _that_ expensive!

I arrived at Bunningdales and walked to the back of the store, to the clearance isle. Just because I had to get something here didn't mean that I couldn't find a good deal. There were dozens of dresses on sale, and they didn't look that bad. There was a nice blue dress for two-hundred. I went to pick it out, but I got a call from Nick.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Carrots! You at Bunningdales yet?"

"Yes."

"Good, good. You're not back in the clearance isle are you?"

I looked around to see if he was following me. "N-no of course not, why would I be in the clearance isle?"

"Have you met yourself?"

"Well I'll have you know that I'm in the super stylish section, and I'm picking out the nicest dress they have here." I insisted, putting the blue dress away.

"There's no such thing as the 'super stylish section'."

"How do you know? Do you spend a lot of time at Bunningdales?"

"You'd be surprised, Carrots. Hurry and get that dress, I've already got my tux picked out and tailored."

"Okay, I'm going. I have the dress right now, I'm going to go try it on."

"Alrighty, see you soon."

I hung up and took the stairs to the Gazelle platinum-label section. There were so many beautiful dresses to choose from. I looked through the ones in my size. It was a good thing this was a store specifically tailored to bunnies. I saw a nice pink dress with a cute carrot patch sewed onto it. I almost picked it out but Nick's voice rang in my head.

 _Nothing too cutesy and joyful, Carrots. You need something fancy and dangerous!_

I continued my search. I had to tell myself this was just part of the job. I looked over at a mannequin on a pedestal with a gorgeous black shining dress. It looked like the outfit a female spy in a 1950s crime movie, very femme fatale. If I had to wear a dress, this was the one. I asked the associate to let me try it on and it fit like a glove! It rung out at 1500 big ones, which left me with 4500 to safely return to Mr. Big…or buy a new Preyda purse to match the dress. Well I had to pay the part, right? And I would still have about 2500 to send back to Mr. Big.

I got home and got ready for our undercover mission. I hid my police supplies in my new purse and dolled myself up. I was just doing some last-minute preparations when there was a knock at the door.

"Carrots, open up, let me see how tacky your dress is!" said Nick on the other side of the door.

"It's not a tacky dress!" I yelled back.

"Well you're the one that picked it out. Let me guess, pink dress with carrot patch sewn in?"

I marched to the door and opened it. "No, of course not."

I must have startled him, because he dropped a long, black bag that he was holding. He didn't say anything, he just stared at me. There was an awkward silence.

"What, Is it that bad?" I asked.

"N-no, it's just you look very-"

"If you say cute, I'm going to drop kick you."

he looked down at the floor. "…pretty."

I felt my ears getting hot. "I-uh, thank you." I looked at what he was wearing, he was still in his police uniform. "Where is that tuxedo you said you were wearing?"

He was still looking at me with a goofy look plastered across his face. "I…I didn't want to wrinkle it so I kept it in this. I'm gonna go change, can I use your bathroom?" he picked up the bag that he dropped.

"Sure." I said.

He walked in and headed towards the bathroom. "Ya know, it's a good thing that you decided to move somewhere where you get your own bathroom."

"Well now I can afford my own bathroom."

"Yup, you really moved up in the world Carrots!" he said as he closed the bathroom door.

I waited outside of the bathroom for quite a while. "You alive in there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just having some trouble with this bowtie. I'm used to regular ties but this is really annoying."

"Here." I said, knocking on the door. "Let me help."

He opened the door. "What, are you some kind of bowtie expert?"

I looked up at him, he looked very handsome in a tux.

"Carrots?" he asked. He waved his paw in front of my face.

"What?"

"You okay? You kind of spaced out there."

"Yeah, I was just…deciding which technique to use."

He patted my head. "So you are a bowtie expert? How did you come to acquire that skill set?"

I yanked the bowtie out of his grip and told him to kneel down. "I have a hundred and fifteen brothers, and half of them needed help with their bowties every Sunday morning for church."

"Was it an all bunny church?"

"No, but most of us were."

He clapped his hands. "Then you must have had some real hoppin' services!" he couldn't contain his laughter.

"Real funny, fox!" I said as I tightened his bowtie.

"Woah bunny, are you trying to suffocate me?"

I batted my eyes. "Oops, sorry."

He got up and looked in the mirror. "Oh yeah I look real sharp!"

I walked up next to him and looked in the mirror. He put his arm around me.

"I think we can really pull this off, Carrots." he said.

"Me too." I said, looking at his intense green eyes.

We walked out of my apartment complex and, to my surprise, there was a limousine waiting for us. Nick opened the door and gestured for me to get in. "My lady, your chariot awaits."

I hopped in and sat down. It was one of Mr. Big's limos. I could tell by the glasses with the fancy "B" on them.

I was a bundle of nerves, I took a deep breath. _Judy, why do you feel so nervous?_ _It's not because of the case, you've faced danger before. Man, it feels like I'm on my way to prom or something. Dressing up, limos, being with the guy that I-woah Judy, snap out of it!_

I jumped at the car door slamming.

"You alright, Hopps?" asked Nick.

"Sure, just preparing myself for this case." I said, avoiding eye contact.

"We'll be fine, we always are."

"You're right, guess I need to lighten up."

"Boy that's the truth, can I quote you on that?" he joked.

"Harhar, you're so funny!"

"I think so." he said.

He snapped his finger. "Excuse me, chauffeur. Can we get a move on?" he said to the driver.

The giant polar bear turned around and glared at him.

"I mean, Ray ol' buddy? Could you please take us to the Nocturnal Strip?"

Raymond grunted. "Shut it, fox." he said as he rolled up the privacy window.

"I guess he's not in a talkative mood." said Nick.

"So how do we even get to the Nocturnal Strip?" I asked.

"Don't worry your cute little head, Carrots. You'll see soon enough."

I punched his arm. "Don't call me cute!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Nocturnal Strip

Chapter 4: The Nocturnal Strip

-Told by Nick-

"Are you sure we're not lost?" asked Hopps as we were driving through a seemingly deserted section of Sahara Square.

"C'mon Carrots, Ray isn't _that_ dumb. We're on the right track."

"But we are going down Muerto Canyon Road, it's a dead end. There's nothing there but an old condemned mine shaft."

"Looks can be deceiving, just sit back and enjoy the view."

She looked out the window. "What view? There's sand, and the occasional rock formation."

I looked at her, she looked beautiful. "Yeah? Well the view is perfect from where I'm sitting, you look stunning in that dress." I said.

She turned around. "Stop teasing me about the dress." she was fidgeting with the hem of the dress, I could tell she felt insecure about wearing it.

"Fine, I'll stop. But in all seriousness, you look just fine." I did couldn't tell her that I wasn't teasing her at all. She really did look stunning.

We reached the old mine shaft at the end of the road. The limo screeched to a halt. We waited there for several minutes.

"What are we waiting for?" Hopps asked nervously.

Two sand cats came out of the mine entrance and walked up to the limo. One of them was carrying a step ladder and the other was carrying a crowbar.

"Aww, look how tiny they are!" squealed Carrots.

"Don't be fooled by their adorable faces, Fluff. These sand cats are vicious, think of Finnick but twenty times worse. Better let me do the talking."

One of the sand cats placed the step ladder down and climbed up it. He knocked on the door. I rolled down the window. "Good evening my fine gentlemen." I said.

"What business do you have here, fox? And what's that bunny doing with you?" he asked in a very deep voice.

"We're here from Los Bangales, we heard there were some great casinos down on the strip and I thought I'd try my hand while we're in Zootopia. I never lose with my lucky rabbit here."

"You know the password?"

"Long live the Knights of Nocturne." I said, hoping that they didn't change the password since the last time I had been down there.

The sand cat glared at me, then at Hopps. "Okay, you check out. Enjoy the Strip." the sand cat hopped off of the step ladder and he and his partner walked back to the entrance of the mine. The one with the crowbar hit a button and the ground right in front of the mine opened up, and a large automobile elevator emerged from the depths of the hole.

Hopps was amazed at the sight of the large elevator appearing out of the darkness below. "Sweet cheese and crackers, did you see that Nick?"

"If you're amazed by that, then you're really in for it when we go under." I said.

The sand cats appeared on either side of the elevator, they motioned for Raymond to drive forward. He put the car in drive and slowly moved his way onto the elevator.

"That's good!" one of the sand cats yelled.

Raymond put the limo in park and we started to go down.

Judy was practically jumping out of her skin with excitement.

"Carrots, play it cool. We're not going to Disneyworld. We're undercover, remember? And this place is dangerous. So get all of your quirky bunny habits under control."

"I'm sorry, it's just this is our first undercover mission together. And I've never been to the Nocturnal Strip before. Heck, I've never even heard of it until last night. So what's it like?"

I sighed as I looked out of the window, we were going deeper and deeper. You could just barely hear the music, the commotion, and the hustle and bustle of the strip. "You'll see soon enough."

"You don't seem too excited about this."

"I really didn't love the idea of going back down there."

She stopped bouncing around her seat and crawled closer to me. "So what happened to you down ther anyway?" she asked with that murderous tone of concern in her voice.

"It's just… the neon lights and glamor does a really good job at hiding the filthy corruption that has a firm grip on the poor animals who live on the strip. And the sad truth is that part of me never left, Carrots. This is where I learned how to hustle, after all."

"It is?"

"Yeah, but I'll spare you the sob story and just tell you that the faster we can get out of here the better."

She leaned in closer and gently placed her hand on my arm. "You can tell me, c'mon Nick. I'm your partner, and more importantly I'm your friend."

"So you're using guilt to get the story outta me?" I asked, smiling at her.

"Nick, I'm serious. I'm here for you, please tell me."

"Fine…" I took another deep breath. "Do you remember the little muzzle incident that happened when I was a kid I told you about?"

She nodded.

"It really opened my eyes about how I was viewed by your average citizen in Zootopia. I guess I never really paid attention to the snide comments they would make whenever my mom and I would walk down the street to get ice cream or through the park. You know, one time at school, I even overheard my teacher say 'I have that _fox_ in my class. I would take any other animal over him. You do know why foxes are red, don't you? Because they're made by the devil'. Most prey parents wouldn't let me play with their kids, even some predator parents got extra nervous when 'that no good little fox' tried to play with their kids. I was so upset at the world that I fell into the wrong crowd."

I stopped, hoping that she had heard enough. Hopps tightened her grip on my arm. "Go on."

"These kids were a grade or two higher than I was. One of them was a skunk named Cain Toxocara, and his father was a member of the Nocturne Knights. He brought me down to the strip one day and that's when I began my petty life of crime. I learned everything I know from my years hanging with Cain and his friends. It about broke my mom's heart. She told me before she passed away to become more than what the world views me as. I guess I disappointed her, huh?"

Judy put her head on my shoulder. "Oh Nick, you've come way above what they saw you as. You are brave, loyal, helpful and trustworthy." she started to tear up.

I lightly pushed her off of my shoulder and placed her down on the seat next to me. "You bunnies really are emotional. Pull it together, Carrots. We're undercover, toughen up!" I said, trying to hold back the tears myself.

"I'm glad you told me, Nick."

"Well you know me, I'm an open book."

I could hear Raymond sniffle up in the driver's seat, he had cracked the privacy window. "I'm sorry, Fox. I didn't know you had it that bad as a kid." he blubbered.

"And apparently you polar bears are also mega emotional, and love to eavesdrop." I said. I rolled the privacy window back up.

We started slowing down.

"We're almost there, get your game face on." I said.

She nodded and composed herself.

The elevator came to a halt, and the wall in front of us opened up to reveal the deceptively dangerous Nocturnal Strip. We drove forward, the wall closed behind us and the elevator disappeared. We were driving down the strip, and Hopps was leaping back and forth to see all of the sights.

"Wow, look at that Nick! And that! And that!"

"I see it, Carrots. I've been down here, remember?" And truthfully, hardly anything had changed at all. There were lowlifes in the alleyways, preying on naïve rich animals who think that they can outsmart the street hustlers. There were animals walking up and down both sides of the street. Most rich, some poor, all trapped by the allure of this neon-laden cage.

We reached the parking garage at the very back of the strip and Raymond parked on the very top. I opened the door and let Carrots hop out.

"This is so exciting!" she yelled. Her voice echoed across the garage.

"Shhh." I whispered.

"Woops, sorry."

Raymond rolled down his window down. "Fox! I mean, Wilde. I mean, Nicky."

I looked up at him. "What do you want, Ray?"

"Sorry about all them times I was a jerk to you."

"It's okay big guy."

"I'll be waiting here for you's two to come back with that fox chick."

Hopps winked at Raymond. "You're the best, Ray. Thanks for doing this for us."

He smiled and rolled the window back up.

We walked down to the main floor of the garage, but we were stopped by a shadowy figure in the corner.

"Wait you two, come over here." said the shadowy figure.

"Umm, no. We're not in the mood to get robbed or murdered today, thank you." I said and I motioned for Hopps to walk faster.

"I know you two are here because of Mr. Big." he said.

Carrots turned around and walked towards him.

"Great idea Hopps, just walk towards the complete stranger in a dark parking garage just because he wants you to." I said as I ran after her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He came out of the shadows, it was a wolf. He was wearing a trench coat and a black fedora. He had two different colored eyes, one blue and one brown.

"I'm Shadow, Mr. Big's informant. I told him I'd meet you two here."

"Your Shadow? You used to be one of the Nocturne Knight's underbosses, right?" asked Hopps.

"Yeah, but they turned on me after I refused to off this nice otter florist. What was his name again? Otterson, no that's not it…"

"Otterton?"

"That's it, Bunbun! I was told he knew too much about something and he needed taken care of. But I couldn't do it. The otter had a wife and kids, and I was sick of the crime life."

Hopps' ears shot straight up. "Wait, they wanted you to get rid of Emmet Otterton, the florist?"

"Yeah, they said something about night crawlers. No that's not it."

 _How stupid could this wolf be?_ I thought to myself.

"Night howlers?" I blurted out.

"No thanks, Red. I got my howling fix last night."

I started to get a headache from his stupidity. "No, that's what it was. Night howlers, it's a flower that makes animals go straight up coocoo."

"Yeah, that's what it was!" he said excitedly.

"Nick." said Hopps as she turned to me. "It sounds like the Nocturne Knights had something to do with the Night Howler incident."

"I told ya, they are a dangerous bunch. So Shadow, tell us what you know about what they're up to now. Why are they stealing diamonds and framing Mr. Big and his boys?"

"I don't know much, I'm on the lam. But I do know that they are making that Foxtrot broad perform at that casino against her will. I've contacted her and she wants out, and she claims to have some information about what the Nocturne Knights are planning. If you get her outta here, she'll tell you all you need to know."

"She works at the Arendelle Casino right?" I asked.

"That's right, Red. Just find a way to get her out without being seen by any of the Nocturne Knights."

"Well that should be fun…" I muttered.

"Thanks for the help, Shadow!" said Hopps.

"No problem, Bunbun. Be careful, and take care of that Foxtrot gal!"

"We will!" she answered back.

We walked out of the parking garage and headed towards the Arendelle Casino. Hopps looked above us.

"Wow, l can't even see the ceiling. How far below ground are we?"

"I dunno, pretty far though. They have vents that get air from the outside."

"Interesting." she said.

I tried to keep it cool, hoping I wouldn't be recognized as we walked down the sidewalk. Fortunately it had been a while since I had been down there, so hopefully nobody remembered me.

"Okay Hopps, we're almost there. Remember to keep your cool." I didn't hear a response. "Hopps, did you hear me?" I turned around and she wasn't there. "Hopps? Hopps!?" I looked around frantically. This was not good! "Judy, where are you?" I sprinted back down the strip, retracing our footsteps.

 _She was right behind me just a minute ago. Where could she have gone? This was a terrible idea._

I turned the corner into an ally, and there she was. She was backing away from a huge Leopard who was harassing her.

"C'mon, Carrots. I'll be real nice to ya, just come with me." said the leopard.

I tugged on his shirt. He turned around and glared at me. "What do you want, fox?"

"Um excuse me, but that's my bunny. And I'm the only one that can call her Carrots, got me? Now go groom yourself or something."

He picked me up by my shirt and threw me into a pile of trash. "Don't mess with me, fox!"

"Nick!" yelled Hopps.

"Shut your trap, Carrots! I'll be with you in a second." the leopard said.

I got up and charged at the enormous cat. I leaped up and punched him right in the face, and down he went.

"I told you." I said, tending to my now throbbing fist. "I'm the only one that can call her Carrots."

Hopps ran over and tackled me to the ground. She began hugging my neck very tightly. "Thank you Nick! I thought I was a goner. I couldn't fight back, I've found out that I'm not very agile in this dress."

"Well I'm glad I could help."

I looked into her eyes, they were glowing a beautiful violet. I started to move in closer. _What are you doing, Wilde?_ I thought to myself. I snapped out of it and got up. "W-we should get going, we have an arctic fox to save."

She looked confused for a second, then got up and brushed herself off. We headed out of the ally. She touched my shoulder. "What's up, Carrots?"

"Sorry, you had a banana peel on your shoulder and I was getting it off."

"Oh, well thanks."

 _C'mon, Wilde. She's your best friend, that's all she's gonna be. I can't believe you almost went in to kiss her! That would have gone well. I can practically feel the friendship-ending slap in the face right now. Be cool, you can't let her know that you…love her. I mean at the end of the day, you're still just a sly fox._


	5. Chapter 5: The Arendelle Casino

Chapter 5: The Arendelle Casino

-Told by Judy-

 _What's wrong with you, Judy? Did you really think he was going to kiss you? Why would he? He's your friend and your partner, that's all. I know he teases you by calling you cute, and he playfully hugs you and…you love every second of it. But he's just teasing, that's his sense of humor. He doesn't love you that way, not the way that you love him._

"You okay, Carrots? You've been unusually quiet." said Nick, interrupting my internal monologue.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just focusing on the case."

"Never stopped you from talking my ear off before."

"Sorry, it's just so different down here. It's so different from the Zootipia I know."

"You have no idea." he said.

It truly was an overwhelming atmosphere. We were in the deep, dark underground under the city and yet the place was lit up by hundreds of bright neon signs in every color you could think of. Many of the hotels, restaurants, theaters and casinos were beautifully built, but some were rundown ramshackle buildings. There were hundreds of people walking up and down the strip, a vast majority of them were predators. I was getting strange looks from a lot of them, which made the whole situation even more nerve-wracking. I stayed close to Nick, I really didn't want a repeat of the leopard incident.

We turned the corner into a wide area of lights, music and street performers. There were mink dancers, tiger clowns and lion musicians.

Nick pulled me in close. "Keep close to me, Carrots. And keep an eye on your purse. This part of the strip is known for its pickpockets."

"O-okay." I said as I held my purse up to my body like it was my baby. I lightly held on to his tuxedo as we walked across the field of performances.

Nick grabbed my shoulders and pushed me right in front of him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, blushing a little. I really hoped he didn't see it.

"This way I know you won't get lost." he said, not letting go of my shoulders.

Once we got to the other side, he let go of me. "Sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable, Hopps."

I looked up at him. "It didn't. It made me feel…safe."

He smiled. "Well we _are_ partners, gotta look out for each other right?"

"Right." I answered.

He pointed forward. "Right through that gate is the Arendelle Casino. You ready?"

I nodded.

We walked through the gate, and what I saw reminded me of a fairytale. The casino itself looked like a giant marble castle. The property had a garden of dozens of exotic plants, which was odd because there was no sunlight. I figured they must use some sort of fancy synthetic light to help them grow. There was a giant fountain in between us and the casino. It shot out water in many patterns, and there were several different-colored lights in the fountain, giving a magical feel to the rushing water.

"Wow, it's so…pretty!" I said.

"What did you expect from the biggest casino on the strip?"

"I thought it would be more, I dunno, sketchy? But this looks like a dream world."

"Don't get pulled in, Carrots. That's how they get ya."

"I won't don't worry. We're here to rescue Aurora Foxtrot and take her into protective custody."

"Now's the time to start the undercover acting, Fluff. You ready?" he whispered.

"I'm always ready, partner."

He put his arm around me and pulled me as close to him as possible. He was practically holding me. I could feel my nose twitching.

 _The way he's holding on to me…so gentle, and he's so warm. I wish we could be like this forever._

I blocked those thoughts out of my head. _Get it together Judy! We're undercover. This is just part of the act!_

I composed myself and started to get into character. If Nick was going to be a high-rolling fox from Los Bangeles, then I was going to be his Lady Luck. I had to be bold and flashy.

 _I know!_ I thought. _I'll be like Jessica Rabbit in that 1950s movie. She did whatever she could to prove her husband's innocence. She was a very bold and very flashy lady…well maybe she was a little bit too over the top. I'll tone it down a little._

We entered into the casino, and the inside was even more impressive than the outside. I mean yes, there were obviously roulettes and poker tables and such, but the way it was decorated was amazing. Beautiful tapestries on the walls, a wonderfully made stage in the back, the floors were made of marble. They had an ice sculpture of Zootopia, with different colored lights highlighting the different parts of the city. Tundra Town was a subtle shade of greyish blue, Sahara Square was a sandy brown, the Rainforest District was green, and downtown was red. On the very bottom of the sculpture, right under Sahara Square, it glowed a deep purple, that must have been the Nocturnal Strip.

"Ready to hustle, sweetheart?" Nick whispered into my ear.

"Always." I whispered back.

We walked up to the reception area, there was a hyena lady working the front desk.

"Excuse me, doll?" Nick said.

The woman looked up from the computer. "May I help you, sir?"

"Me and my honey bunny here are from out of town, and we heard that this was the place to try our luck. I would like to get some chips, please." He pulled out a wad of cash and placed it on the table. It looked like there was at least a thousand dollars on the table.

"You're playin' it big tonight, aren't you foxy?" I said, trying not to sound too nervous that Nick was going to gamble away a thousand dollars that he probably borrowed from Mr. Big.

"Don't I always, darling? With you here, I can't lose!"

I glared at him, trying not to give my frustration away. He was giving me that sly smile that he had when we first met. I knew he had something planned.

The receptionist took the cash and handed Nick a bunch of chips inside a container. "Good luck out there sir." She snickered a bit.

"Thank you, ma'am." he said.

We walked into the main part of the casino. The ceiling was domed and stain-glassed, and it had a huge crystalline chandelier hanging down from the center.

I leaned up to Nick's ear. "are you really going to bet all of that money?"

"No, of course not. I'm not much of a gambler, but we had to play the part right?"

"What do we do now?"

He looked around the casino. "Looks like there are some empty seats right in front of the stage. That sign says that Aurora is performing at ten. It's 9:45 now. We just need to blend in until then, and I don't have to bet a single cent."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I can blend in…"

We sat down in a chair that fit the two of us. He helped me up first, then hopped up next to me.

A hyena waitress walked up to us. "Want anything before the show?"

"I'll have a bowl of your finest blueberries, and my lovely bunny here will have a..."

"Carrot juice. Shaken, not stirred." I said in a botched Manes Bond impression.

The waitress looked at me, confused. "I'll see what we have as far as carrot juice is concerned. I'll be right back."

"Really, Carrots?"

"What? I've always wanted to say that, and that was my chance."

The theater area started to get packed. Every seat was taken by 9:55. There was so much commotion about Aurora Foxtrot's performance. We had a rowdy wolf sitting to the right of us that kept howling, and a tiger on the left that kept whistling and yelling for the show to start.

The room got dark, and a spotlight focused on the middle of the stage. "Ladies and gentlemammals, we at the Arendelle Casino are proud to present the beautiful and alluring arctic fox: Aurora Foxtrot!"

The young arctic fox slid gracefully out from behind the curtain. She was a slender fox with very fine white fur. She had orange eyes that glowed like a fire. She wore a silver dress that made mine look like I got it at the dollar store. She began to dance around the stage and sing.

" _The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_

 _Not a footprint to be seen_

 _A kingdom of isolation,_

 _And it looks like I'm the queen._

 _The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside_

 _Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried!"_

She walked off of the stage, still singing and dancing. " _Don't let them in, don't let them see_

 _Be the good girl you always have to be_

 _Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know_

 _Well, now they know!"_

She made her way over to us and jumped up on our chair. She squeezed between me and Nick and knelt down. She began to scratch under his chin, he had a dumbfounded look on his face.

" _Let it go, let it go_

 _Can't hold it back anymore_

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _Turn away and slam the door!"_

She began to stroke his ears.

" _I don't care_

 _What they're going to say_

 _Let the storm rage on,_

 _The cold never bothered me anyway!"_

She jumped back down and continued to sing and dance.

Nick whispered to me "Wow, you know Carrots? She's some singer, isn't she?"

I was just looked forward, my arms were crossed and my foot was thumping against the chair. "Oh, yeah, she's great…"

I was upset. I mean that fox girl basically pushed me out of the way and started moving in on Nick. Talk about shameless.

"You okay, Hopps?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We just need to wait until this performance is over so we can take her in."

"C'mon, enjoy the show!"

 _Looks like you're enjoying the show enough for the both of us._ I thought to myself.

Aurora walked back up on the stage.

" _I don't care_

 _What they're going to say_

 _Let the storm rage on,_

 _The cold never bothered me anyway!"_

She slipped back behind the curtain, and there was a roar of applause. Everyone applauded except for me.

After the show, Nick and I snuck back behind stage. We looked all around for Aurora, but couldn't find her.

"So what do ya think about Aurora?" Nick asked as we were walking down the back street.

"She's okay I guess. Her fur isn't as lush as I would have guessed. And her voice was a little high pitched for a fox."

We found her dressing room wide open, but it was empty.

"It's her summer coat, Carrots. I mean we're right under Sahara Square, remember? I'm sure if we were in Tundra Town it would be as fluffy as a cloud. I think she's pretty, she smells really good too, like an apple orchard."

"It's a unique scent, isn't it? I have it custom made especially for me."

We turned around and there she was.

"Aurora Foxtrot?" I said with no kindness in my voice.

She batted her eyes. "Yes?"

"My name is Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Nick Wilde. We're from the ZPD, we're here to get you out of here and back to your grandmother."

Her eyes got wide and she began to cry. "I've been waiting for someone to get me out of this wretched place! Shadow told me that one day it would happen."

She walked right past me and threw herself into Nick's arms. "You're my hero!"

Nick patted her shoulder. "There, there Ms. Foxtrot. Hopps and I are going to make sure you never have to see this place again. Right, Hopps?"

"Right, because that's our job at the ZPD. Saving and protecting the innocent." _And after we do, I hope we never have to see you again, fox girl._ I thought.

"So how are we going to get out of here?" she asked.

"We have a polar bear waiting for us in a limo. We just need to get there without causing a ruckus." Said Nick.

"Wait!" I said. "I think I have an idea…"


	6. Chapter 6: Escaping the strip

Chapter 6: Escaping the Strip

-Told by Nick-

"Clever bunny!" I said as we snuck into the props closet.

"And don't you forget it, buster." she said.

We were rummaging through the various clothes racks, chests and shelves to find the perfect disguise for the lovely Ms. Aurora Foxtrot.

Carrots dove headfirst deep inside of a chest, digging to the very bottom. "Aha!" she yelled.

She leaped out of the chest with a costume in her hands. It was an old-granny outfit, complete with grey hair and glasses.

Hopps tried to hand the costume to Aurora. "Put this on, Aurora. Nobody will notice you when we make our escape."

"Ew, I'm not putting _that_ old thing on. I'll look like an old lady!"

Hopps threw the costume at her. "That's the point."

"But being old is so…tacky!"

"Just put it on, you can worry about fashion when we get you out of here. We'll be outside while you change. C'mon, Nick." She stomped over to me and dragged me out by my shirt.

She slammed the closet door behind us. She seemed a little tense.

"You okay, Carrots?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Just peachy, why?"

"You seem just a little perturbed. And of course by a little I mean a lot. What's up?"

"Nothing." she snapped.

"Hopps…"

She looked away from me.

"Judy, I'm your partner. I know when you're upset. I haven't seen you this mad since I pretended to have rabies back in Bunny Burrow and scared the fur right off your parents."

"I'm not mad." she said with an angry tone.

"Yeah, you've got me convinced." I said with every drop of sarcasm I could muster.

She turned around and grinned creepily. "See? I'm not mad. I'm just a little tired. It's been a long night. I just want to get this case over with."

I knew she wasn't telling me something, but I knew better than to dwell on it, lest I face the judgment of her fluffy fury.

"Okay, well we're almost home free. After this is over I'll take you out for a carrot milkshake. Would you like that?"

Her mood seemed to improve. "You know I can't resist a carrot milkshake."

I knew that would to the trick. I always took her out to get milkshakes when she was upset, usually at me.

The closet door opened, and Aurora walked out with the granny costume on.

"Does looking super old make my butt look big?" she asked.

Judy grabbed her arm. "Yes, very. Now let's get a move on!"

We crept out of the backstage area and back into the casino. Aurora was between us, it just looked like we were helping an old lady walk out of the casino. We walked past the reception area and the hyena running the front desk called out to us.

"Excuse me?"

The three of us stopped. I could feel my heart begin to race. What if we were busted?

I put my hustling face on, couldn't let them see me sweat. "What's up, doll?"

"Did you need to cash in your chips?"

"Ah, yes!" I said. "Honey Bunny, I do believe I placed them in your bag for safe keeping."

She dug into her purse and got out the container of chips and handed them to me.

"Thank you. Now hold onto granny there while I give this nice lady the chips."

Carrots nodded.

I handed the hyena the container of chips. She looked up at me. "This is the same amount that I gave you earlier."

"Yeah well, I won some and I lost some. What can you do?"

She opened the cash register and gave me back my, or rather, Mr. Big's money. "Thank you for coming to the Arendelle Casino, where everyone is treated like royalty."

"Oh it was our pleasure, we'll be sure to come back real soon!"

I shoved the money into my wallet and went back to Hopps and granny. We hastily walked out of there.

"Yeah, we were treated like royalty, all right. I never even got my blueberries…" I said.

"There are more important things to think about now, Nick." said Hopps.

I looked at her in disgust. "More important than blueberries? Carrots, you're talking crazy!"

"We've got to get Aur-I mean granny to the car."

"Yeah yeah, it still woulda been nice if I at least got my blueberries."

We made it past the sea of pickpocketing performers and turned onto the main street of the strip. We were about halfway to the parking garage when we were confronted by two grizzly bears.

"Can we help you two?" I said.

"Yeah, we're part of the _street patrol_. We just seen you three walking all suspicious-like and wanna ask you some questions."

" _We_ are the suspicious ones? Have you seen the people around here?" I asked, perturbed.

"Watch it, fox. Just tell us what you guys are doing."

"Tch, I don't know what you guys mean when you say street patrol, but me and my bunny muffin are just taking granny home. She's had enough excitement for one night. Now if you'll excuse us. C'mon granny, we're almost to the car."

Aurora grabbed onto her hip and yowled. "Oh, my hip, my hip!" She started to rock back and forth in an very exaggerated manner. She was flailing about so much that her granny wig fell off.

The two grizzly bears looked over. "Hey, that's the fox girl, get them!"

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag, or rather the fox is out of the wig. Let's run for it!" I said as I grabbed onto Hopps and Aurora.

We sprinted to the parking garage and ran up the stairs.

"Wait, I can't run so fast. I need to take a break!" said Aurora.

"Get over it and run, Foxtrot!" yelled Hopps.

We saw the limo in sight.

"Raymond, start the car!" I yelled.

He started the limo and I opened the door. Carrots jumped in and helped Aurora up. I got in after her.

"Go Raymond, hurry!" yelled Hopps.

He sped out of the parking space and off we went.

"What's goin' on?" he asked.

"We're being chased by two grizzlies because _someone_ decided to make a fool of herself instead of just staying quiet!" said Hopps, staring at Aurora.

"I was just getting into character. You don't have to be so mean, bunny!"

"Better stick to singing, hun. But between you and me, I like Gazelle better!"

Aurora gasped. "How could such a cute little bunny be so hateful?"

"Did you just call me cute?" Hopps' foot was starting to thump.

"Woah, woah, woah, ladies! Save the bickering for later!" I said, trying to break up the potential brawl.

We drove through the exit, it was on the opposite side of the strip from the entrance elevator. The exit went into a long, winding, upward tunnel that led up to Loan Wolf Road, a one-way street out of Sahara Square. It kinda made you wanna vomit.

We finally got topside, we popped out of the tunnel and onto Lone Wolf road.

I took a sigh of relief. "Oh good, we're in the clear. Raymond, get ready to do a victory too-toot!"

There was a loud popping noise coming from behind us. I looked out of the rear window. The grizzlies were hot on our tail!

"Nick, from now on…there will be no mention of victory toot-toots until the case is closed. This is the second time you've jinxed us!" said Judy.

"Fair enough." I said.

There was another popping noise, and the window shattered. They were shooting at us! We all hit the deck. Raymond was swerving all across the road.

I got my gun out of the holster on my belt and stood up.

"Nick, what are you doing?" asked Hopps.

"I'm gonna take care of this! Keep Aurora down. and Ray, drive as straight as you can!"

Raymond straightened out the car. I took aim at the car behind us, but there was another shot. It just barely missed me and went through the privacy window, luckily missing Raymond too. He swerved again and it knocked me to the floor.

"Nick, are you okay?" asked Hopps.

"I'm fine, don't move Carrots!"

I got back up and aimed my gun. Raymond was still swerving pretty badly. I clenched my teeth and took the chance. I made the shot, and it hit their front tire…right on target! The car swerved off of the road and crashed.

I wiped the sweat from my face. "Whoo, that was close!"

"Oooh, my hero!" said Aurora as she threw herself on me, knocking me down. She gave me a ten second kiss on my cheek. "Oh, Nick. I was so scared! You saved me twice tonight, you're so brave." She gave me another kiss.

"No prob, glad I could help." I said. I tried to get her off of me. Now this may sound a little judgy, but needy girls had always been a huge turn off for me. I mean sure, Aurora was a beautiful young lady, smelled amazing too, but my heart was drawn to another. I tried as gently as I could to pry her off of me.

We both got up and sat down, Raymond had straightened the car up, the crisis was over.

Aurora would not let go of me. She kept nuzzling my arm and telling me how brave I was. Carrots was quiet, she just stared out of the window.

"So, Aurora. Now you are in protective custody, we're going to take you down to the station so we can put you in a safe house." I told her.

"No!" she yelled, finally letting go of my arm. "I mean, I really just want to go home to my grandma. She's probably sick with worry since they foxnapped me."

"But that'll probably be the first place they look for you." I said.

"Don't be silly! My grandmother has a state-of-the-art security system set up in her house. If anyone comes near the house that shouldn't be there, they'll get fried."

"Then how did you get foxnapped to begin with?"

"It wasn't at grandma's, that's for sure. You see, I'm a gradeschool teacher in Tundra Town. I was driving to a charity I had planned for underprivileged children, when I was blind sighted by those grizzlies. They snatched me out of my car and the next thing I knew I was underground. I was the property of the Nocturne Knights. They made me sing and dance for that awful casino for who knows how long?"

"That's awful. Well you're safe now. We'll take you to your grandma's."

"Thank you, Nick. Tehe."

We drove down Sahara Square for another hour or so, and through the fridged streets of Tundra Town for another forty-five minutes. We arrived at Madame Shade Foxtrot's mansion at around 1:45 am.

I hit the buzzer on the intercom.

"Oh, I hope grandma is still awake. She doesn't have a cell phone, she thinks that they are full of the devil." said Aurora.

"But you said she has state-of-the-art security." I said.

"I don't know what she's thinking. She's always been kinda weird."

"Who's there?" said a feeble voice on the intercom.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm officer Nicolas Wilde. We have Aurora, she's safe and sound. Could you let us in?"

"Right, you're the police. Please…get off of my property or I'll fry you!"

"Told you." said Aurora.

"Madame Foxtrot?" said Raymond.

"Who is that? Is that you, Ray? Oh, tell me how Mr. Big is doing?"

"He's doing just fine."

"And what about Fru Fru? I keep telling him that he's spoiling that poor child."

"She's good, ma'am. She's married now as a matter of fact, with a little shrew of her own."

"Well that's nice. But what are you doing here?"

"Nicky…I mean, officer Wilde here is telling the truth. We got's Aurora with us. She was just a chubby little fox goin' off to collage the last time I saw her. And now she's a lovely young lady."

"Well she is a sweet gal, my Aurora. I'll let you in Raymond, after you give me the password."

Raymond rolled his eyes. "Do I have to?"

"You do if you want to get in."

"…Fluffy foxtrot frolicking through the flowers."

"Good man, I'll beep you in."

The front gate opened and we drove in.

We got out of the car. Hopps rushed out and practically sprinted to the front door ahead of me.

We knocked on the door and a polar bear answered.

"Bobby, how are ya?" asked Ray. They did some kind of secret handshake. Lame.

"You really did get Aurora back! You guys come in, go sit in the conservatory. I'll got get Madame Shade."

We walked into the gargantuan house. It looked even bigger than Mr. Bigs! Another polar bear showed us into the conservatory, which is just rich-people talk for family room.

"Madame will be in shortly."

"Thank you, Giles." said Aurora.

Hopps sat down on the antique couch in the middle of the room. I went to go sit next to her, but Aurora slid in before I could. I moved over and sat next to Aurora.

After a few excruciating minutes of silence, Madame Foxtrot entered the room. She was an ancient broad, her eyes clouded by blindness. She walked with a cane, she was hunched over.

"So where is my granddaughter?" she asked.

"Right here, grandma!" said Aurora. She got up out her seat and helped Madame Shade sit down.

I scooted over closer to Hopps, who was just blankly staring at the fireplace.

"You sure sound different. What have they done to you, child?"

"I don't even want to tell you. You know you have a bad heart."

"You're right, I should just be glad you're home."

"Well, it's about time we go." I said.

"Wait!" said Aurora.

"What?"

"I have something to tell you about the Nocturne Knights. I know what they're planning."

I expected Hopps to be the first to ask her what she knew. But she was still in outer space somewhere.

"Alright, tell us what you know." I said.

"They're going to hit the Zootopia Art Museum tomorrow night during the Arctic Diamond ball."

"The what?" I asked.

"The Arctic Diamond ball. It's an enormous celebration to commemorate the unveiling of the Arctic Diamond itself. Well at least half of it."

"What's the Arctic Diamond, and what do you mean by half of it?"

"It was at one time the biggest diamond in the world, but a while ago it was cut in half by some jewel thieves and split between them."

"How did they cut such a big diamond clear in half? Diamonds are the strongest substances on earth, And the biggest diamond in the world would not cut easily."

"From what I heard, they used a powerful laser to do it. I also heard that the thieves that acquired the diamond were employed by the Nocturne Knights, but the thieves wanted the diamond for themselves. And now that the other half of the diamond has been found, they will stop at nothing to get their paws on it."

"Where is the first half?"

"It's safe. Actually, it's in this very house. You see, the foxtrots are the diamond's rightful owners. After it was found and returned, Grandma graciously donated half of the diamond to the museum. But she kept the other half, which I think is why I was foxnapped. They didn't get the chance to contact my grandmother to ask for the diamond for me. They were going to wait until after they got the first half."

"I see, well thank you for the information. I think we'll be going now. You ready, Carrots?"

Hopps slowly got off of the couch. "Yeah, let's go." She said, ears drooping.

Aurora brushed against her grandmother, and Madame Shade started to freak out. "Who are you?"

Aurora looked at her grandmother. "Grandma, it's me…Aurora?"

"You're not my granddaughter!"

"Grandma, it's me!"

"Y-you're not my granddaughter. Someone, help!"

"Grandma, calm down. Did you take your meds today?"

"Help, someone help!"

Bobby and Giles entered the room.

"Can you guys take grandma upstairs and make sure she takes her medication?"

"Yes, ma'am." said Giles. "Come on, Madame Shade. We're going to take you upstairs and put you to bed. You've had quite an eventful evening.

"No, no, let me go!"

They took her out of the room.

"Sorry about that. My grandma gets a little senile sometimes…"

"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Giles and Bobby will take care of her. And she's got me back home."

"Alright, give us a call if you need anything." I said as I gave her my card.

"Sure thing, you foxy cop you."

She was making me feel uncomfortable again. "Yeah, alright. Bye now."

Hopps, Ray and I walked out of the house.

"Well, it looks like you have an admirer." said Carrots.

"You mean her? Yeah, what is her deal?"

"I dunno but you seemed to like the attention."

"Not really, she's not my type."

"Not your type? Please, I saw how you looked at her when she was dancing up next to you."

"I-I'll go start the car up." said Raymond as he beat feet over to the limo.

"Where is this coming from?" I asked.

"Just admit you like her." said Carrots.

"I thought she was pretty, and sure she smells good…like apples."

She raised her eyebrow.

"What? She does…but why do you care?"

Her nose started to twitch. "I…I just think that you can do better. She's too flirty and clingy."

"I know that. She wouldn't let go of me. Besides, I don't have feeling for her, I love y-" I stopped myself.

Hopps looked up at me, her ears shot straight up.

 _C'mon, Nick. Now's your chance to tell her. Say 'I love you, Carrots.' C'mon you can do it!_

"I love…"

' _I love you', how hard is it to say?_

"I-I love being your partner. And we're on a case, so now's not the right time for me to be dating even if I did like her."

"Oh…" she said, her ears drooped a little bit. A few seconds later they perked up again. "I feel the same way, Nick. We need to focus on this case."

She seemed to get some more pep in her step, and she hopped to the limo.

 _Why can't I tell her? It's tearing me up inside. But just imagine how she'll react. She'll be all sweet, not wanting to hurt my feelings and say she just wants to stay friends. Then there will be a rift in our friendship and all of a sudden I'll be all alone again. No, our friendship means more to me than anything, so I'll just have to get over it._

I followed Carrots into the limo. It was quiet the whole way home, but the tension was gone. Most of it, anyway. Oh, how I wanted to tell her how I felt.

' _I love you, Carrots'._ Sure, it was super easy to say it in my head!

Ray dropped Hopps off first.

She got out of the car. "Bye, Nick. See you in the morning. Looks like we're going to that ball tomorrow night."

"Looks like it, Carrots. Better pick out another dress!"

"Ugh, I don't wanna."

"Well, how're you going to look at a ball without a nice dress? You certainly don't want to wear the same dress two nights in a row, do you? Especially since you got trash on it back in the ally."

"Well are you getting another tux?"

"Absolutely."

"See you later, dumb fox."

"See ya, sly bunny!"

And then it was just me and Ray the rest of the way.

"Why don't you tell that bunny broad you love her, Nicky?"

I was caught off guard. "W-what are you talking about?"

Raymond laughed. "I know you, fox. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love her.

"I-I, this is ridiculous. We're friends, that's it."

"That wasn't a denial."

"Shut up, polar bear. I think I liked it better when you hated me."

After a very long night, I was finally home. I stumbled in my room and collapsed on my couch. I was so tired, too tired to even walk that extra ten feet to my bed. Before going to sleep, I looked at my coffee table. I saw Hopps' carrot pen laying there. She had given it to me as a silly little gift when I joined the force. I picked it up and hit the record button.

"Hey there, Carrots. It's me, Nick. I have to get something off my chest. And since this is going to be erased in the morning and you'll never hear it, I have something to confess…I…love you."


	7. Chapter 7: The Arctic Diamond Ball

Chapter 7: The Arctic Diamond Ball

-Told by Judy-

' _I learned two things that day. One: I was never gonna let anyone see that they got to me.'_

' _And…two?'_

' _If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else.'_

' _Nick…you are so much more than that.'_

I awoke at the piercing sound of my alarm. It made me fall out of my bed in panic.

"What's going on? Wha-, huh?" When I finally snapped out of it, I realized I was in my apartment.

I grabbed my phone and turned off the alarm. I dragged myself into the bathroom and got ready for work.

I got to work late, which was a first. Not just late, I was like forty-two minutes late!

"Hopps, the chief is going to kill you." said Clawhauser as I ran into the station. He was devouring a donut.

"I know, but we had a really late night last night and-"

"Who's _we_?" he asked, staring at me in curiosity.

"Me and Nick, we had to-"

"Ooooohhhhhh." he piped in a high-pitched voice. "Did you guys go on a date? Well it's about time!" he said as he grabbed another donut from the box.

"No, we had to go undercover."

"Aw man, that's not as interesting."

I jumped up on his desk and whispered in his ear. "We went down to the Nocturnal Strip."

"The Nocturnal Strip!?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone stared at us.

"That's right, Clawhauser…I was thinking of going to Norway on a trip."

I grabbed his lips. "Hush."

"Sorry, it's just that place is dangerous. It's run by the Nocturne Knights, or so I've heard."

"Well you heard right. Nick and I went down there and rescued Madame Shade Foxtrot's granddaughter, Aurora. She had been kidnapped by the Nocturne Knights and they were going to use her to get half of the Arctic Diamond from Madame Shade."

"Wow, that's crazy!" he said, eyes wide.

"I know!"

He picked up a donut out of the box. "They gave me an extra donut, lucky number thirteen!" he said as he stuffed his face with it.

"Clawhauser, I was talking about the case."

"Oh yeah, that's pretty interesting too."

"Well that's not all, they are supposedly going to strike tonight at the Arctic Diamond ball at the Art museum to get half of the Arctic Diamond. The other half is locked up safe and sound at the Foxtrot mansion."

"So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"Nick and I are going to that ball and look out for them, with any luck we can apprehend them and take them into custody."

"You're at least going to let the chief know, right?"

"No, not until absolutely necessary. Apparently if the Nocturne Knights catch wind of police involvement, they have a way of getting rid of all evidence…including innocent animals involved. So this is just between you, me and Nick for. Got it?"

"You want _me_ to keep a secret from the chief?"

"Yes, I need you to."

He sighed. "I'll do my best. You owe me a box of gourmet donuts for this one."

"Done." I said.

"Hopps!" yelled the chief from up in his office.

"Uh-oh, that's his angry voice." said Clauhauser, cringing in his chair.

"I guess I better go see what he wants." I said, hopping down and heading up the stairs.

"What's up, chief Bogo, sir?" I said nervously as I walked into his office.

"Sit down."

I crawled onto the seat.

"Where were you this morning?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I-I still don't feel too well." I said, coughing.

"Well is Wilde sick now, too?"

"Wait, Nick's not here?"

"No, he didn't show up for work today, either."

"I'll go over to his apartment and check on him, sir."

"This is ridiculous, Hopps. If he's well enough to work today, the two of you are on parking duty for the rest of the week, _and_ you're working double shifts!"

"But, chief."

"No buts, you two didn't even check in about Mr. Big. Did you even go talk to him?"

"Yes, sir. And he says he has no knowledge of the diamond thefts, and he vouched for his polar bears. He says that one of his limos was stolen and that the perps must be using it to steal the diamonds."

"Who would be bold enough to steal a limo from that sketchy little shrew?"

"I-uh, he…that's a good question sir. But I will tell you that Mr. Big checks out."

"That's not your decision to make, Hopps! Now, go get Wilde. You two have a long day of putting tickets on cars."

"Yes, sir."

I walked out of the office and went down the stairs.

"So what's the damage?" asked Clawhauser.

"We're on parking duty for the rest of the week."

"Could be worse."

"True, but we're also working double shifts. That means we won't be able to go to the ball tonight…unless."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you cover for us tonight?"

"What?"

"Just tell the chief that we're out there dishing out parking tickets if he asks. Okay?"

"But I'm a terrible liar, especially with the chief."

"C'mon, Clauhauser. We could take down the Nocturne Knights tonight, think of it! Zootopia could finally rest easy knowing that the infamous group is behind bars for good."

"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me two-dozen donuts now."

"Heck, I'll make it three."

I walked out to the parking garage and got our car. I drove to Nick's apartment and walked up to the door. His door was a lot different than the others in the complex. It didn't just have a key lock, it had a digital code lock as well, he must have had that put in recently.

I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked harder. Still no answer. I knocked as hard as I could. I heard stumbling and things falling on the floor.

The door swung open. "What is it!?" yelled Nick. He was all disheveled and the fur on his face was messy. He looked exhausted and he was in his…underwear!

He realized who was at the door. "C-Carrots!" he closed the door, leaving it barely cracked.

"W-what are you doing here?"

I couldn't speak for a moment, I was too caught off guard.

"I, uh, I…you didn't show up at w-ork today and I came over to check you out…I mean check on you!"

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Umm, it's about 10 o' clock now."

"What!?" he said, panicking. "Gimme a sec' to get ready, Carrots. I'll be out in a few."

"Okay, I'll be out in the car."

I walked back outside and got into the car. My face was still red. Maybe I should have called him first?

A few minutes later he came running out with his uniform on, it was wrinkled and a bit askew. He was wearing his sunglasses, which were crooked. He was carrying two cups of coffee.

I opened the door for him.

"Thanks, Carrots. I made you some coffee too. You looked like you could use some."

"Thank you."

"No prob. Whoo, that was some crazy night last night huh? I was so tired by the end of it, I don't even remember getting home last night."

"I was pretty tired too. But unlike you, I set my alarm."

"I don't do alarms, I usually wake up just fine on my own."

"You're always late for work."

"Yeah, but only by a few minutes. So how steamed was the chief?"

"Mad enough to give us parking duty for the rest of the week, and work double shifts."

"Double shifts? But how are we gonna go to the ball at the museum tonight?"

"Clawhauser is going to cover for us. He'll tell the chief we're at our posts if he asks."

"Cool dude, that Clawhauser. I guess we owe him some donuts."

"Yup, we already negotiated the price. Three dozen donuts."

"Shoot, I'll get him another three dozen myself."

So there we were serving our sentence if the form of parking duty. It had been three or four hours into it, when Nick said he had to go somewhere.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I gotta run some errands. I'll be back in an hour or so, hold up the fort while I'm gone?"

"Fine…but you're going to have to make that carrot milkshake super-sized."

"It's a deal, officer Fluff!"

So I was driving around alone for an hour-and-a-half, only finding two cars that were over their time allotment. Boy, I really hated parking duty! It was a particularly hot day too, and of course our AC was busted, so I had all of the windows down.

I saw Nick walking down the street, he was carrying two bags. I drove up to him and turned on the siren. He just about jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that to me, Carrots! You know I hate it."

"I know, that's why I do it. So what do you have there?"

He tossed up one of the bags through the window and I barely caught it. "What's this?"

He gave me his hustling smile. "Open it and see." he said as he got in on the other side.

I unzipped the bag, and there was a violet ball gown in it in my size. "Nick. it's, it's beautiful."

"I know, I picked it out after all. I picked out that dress because it matches your eyes."

I blushed. I looked away from him so he didn't see. I purposely I dropped my phone between the drivers seat and the door. "Oh, I always drop that thing down there." I said as I rummaged through the side of the seat. When I felt the embarrassing blush leave my face, I "found" my phone.

I held my phone up. "Found it. So, is that your new tux then?"

"Sure is, I thought I would shake things up a little. So instead of a straight black tuxedo. I got one in onyx."

"Isn't that still black?"

"Yeah, but it's a different shade of black."

"You sure are shaking things up, Nick." I said, laughing.

After a long day of parking duty, the time finally arrived for us to stake out the museum. We left our car about a mile up the road from the museum, that way if the chief tried to locate our car, it would be far enough away so that he wouldn't expect anything. We walked to Nick's apartment to get changed, it was between where we dumped the car and the museum. I hadn't been inside his apartment since he moved there. He typed in the code to get in.

 **030416**

Then he unlocked the door with his key.

"You can never be too careful, Carrots. Remember that." he said.

"Did you pick the code yourself? It looks like a date, is March fourth, 2016 a significant date?"

"It's...well yeah. One of the most important days of my life."

"Wait a minute, that was my first day on the job."

"Yup, it was the first day we met."

I could feel a blush coming on. "You, you chose that date as the code to get into your house?"

"Of course. It's the day that changed my life for the better! Well, not at first. In fact, when we first met I thought you were just the most aggravating thing I'd ever met. I didn't know anyone as cute as you could be so annoying." he laughed.

"Don't call me cute. And you were no picnic yourself…Mr. pawpsicle hustler."

He opened the door. "Hey I had a great operation going there for a long time."

"But now you have a better life, a life with purpose."

"Indeed I do, hence putting the date that we first met as my code. You're a good friend, Carrots…the best I ever had."

"You are too, dumb fox."

He walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I looked around his apartment as he was getting dressed. It looked just like I imagined: organized chaos. There were piles of clothes everywhere, and yet they were clearly color coordinated. Books were lying all over the floor, but in alphabetical order. He had a lumpy old couch fitting for a bachelor pad in the family room. His coffee table had papers all over it, and it was slanted, one of the legs was off balance. I walked over to the coffee table and noticed my carrot pen laying on a pile of papers. I picked it up and was about to hit the play button.

"Hey Carrots, I'm gonna need some help tying this botwtie!" I heard Nick yell from the bathroom.

I dropped the carrot pen and it rolled under the couch. I bent down to pick it up. "Carrots!" he yelled.

"Coming!"

I ran over to the bathroom.

"I'm really riding the struggle train tonight." he said. He got his finger stuck when he was trying to tie the bowtie.

I laughed. "I'll say." I untied the knot and told him to lean down.

"Why don't you just get a tuxedo with a necktie instead?" I asked.

"I tried, they were all out apparently."

I finished tying it. "There, you look perfect."

"Ha, you're right I do! Thanks for noticing, Carrots."

"Okay, now get out. I need to get ready."

He walked out of the bathroom and I closed the door and got changed. The dress was a little hard to put on, mostly because I was not used to wearing dresses. I looked in the mirror, the dress was so…poofy! It reminded me of Belle's dress from _Beauty and the Wildebeest._ I peeked out of the bathroom.

"Okay, don't poke fun…but will you tell me how do I look?"

"Oh Carrots, when do I ever poke fun at you?"

"Let's see, only all of the time."

"Get out here, let me take a look at ya."

I walked out of the bathroom.

He looked at me and grinned. "You, you look great, Hopps."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely…" he said. "But it's obviously because I chose the dress." He laughed.

"Harhar." I said.

He looked at his phone. "Aw man, it's time to go!"

We ran out of his apartment and rushed to the art museum. We made it just in time for the festivities to begin.

The curator, an old badger named Fredric Badgerson, welcomed us. "Well if it isn't officer Hopps and Wilde. Come to enjoy the party, have you?"

I curtsied. "Of course we did. As soon as we heard about it we just _had_ to come."

"Splendid, please enjoy yourselves."

We walked into the museum. The animals in charge of the event did a great job. Much of the artwork had been moved for insurance purposes, as well as giving plenty of room on the dance floor. The floor itself had been polished to a perfect shine. In the very center of the room was the guest of honor, so to speak. It was half of the Arctic Diamond. It was in a glass container that was blocked off by rope. It really was a beautiful diamond. It was huge for only being half the size of the original. It was as clear as crystal, with no blemishes, and it glimmered like an icicle on a bright, sunny day.

The musicians began to play the music. It was a heavenly sound of the piano, violins, and trumpets all playing in harmony.

Everyone started to dance beautifully to the music, perfectly in sync. Oh, how I wanted to dance! Nick tapped my shoulder, I faced him and he held his hand out and bowed. "May I have the pleasure of dancing with the prettiest gal in the room?"

"Oh stop with the teasing, Nick! And you know we're supposed to be on high alert, the Nocturne Knights could strike at any moment.

"Ever heard of multitasking, Carrots? C'mon, dance with me."

I reluctantly took has hand. He guided me out to the dance floor and we started to dance. The musicians were playing something by Molezart. He danced so well, I wondered where he learned to do so. I mean he was a hustler on the streets, surely he didn't take the time to learn to waltz. And yet he stayed on beat perfectly with the music. I looked into his emerald green eyes, he smiled warmly. For a moment, it seemed as though the world had stopped, and it was just me and him. I could have stayed in that moment forever.

"Carrots?" he said as we were gliding across the dance floor.

"Hmm?"

"I-I gotta tell you something."

"What is it, do I have something in my teeth?"

He laughed. "No, your teeth are perfect. What I'm gonna tell you is hard for me."

"Nick, you know you can tell me anything."

He took a deep breath, his cheeks turned red. "I…um. I…uh."

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Looks like it. What I'm trying to say is-" he was interrupted by a loud humming noise that was coming from the wall.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and the entire center of the back wall was gone. The animals closest to the wall were thrown several feet away. Nick and I dove out of the way of the falling debris.

There were screams of terror coming from all around us, and there were flames and debris everywhere.

I looked toward the blown-up wall, and there were two shadowy silhouettes that I couldn't quite make out because of the smoke. They walked up to the Arctic Diamond. There was the sound of shattering glass, and one of them snatched the diamond.

I grabbed Nick's pager from his pocket. "This is officer Judy Hopps. We have a situation at Zootopia's Art Museum. There was an explosion, and there are several civilians down. Expect multiple injuries. Send immediate support, we have two suspects running away with the Arctic Diamond. Hurry!"

I got up and ran after the suspects.

"Hopps, wait!" Nick yelled after me.

I leaped through the hole in the wall and into the alley behind the museum. I could see the two perps clearly now, and they did not look friendly.


	8. Chapter 8: Hot Pursuit

Chapter 8: Hot Pursuit

-Told by Nick-

"Carrots, wait!" I yelled out to Hopps as she ran straight into danger.

 _What is she thinking?_ I thought to myself as I ran after her. I crawled through the hole that was blown into the wall and met her out in the alley.

"Hopps, don't go running out here by yourself. Do you have carrots for brains?"

"Nick, it's them…" she said, staring straight ahead. She didn't move a muscle.

I looked down the alley and saw the thieves, there were two of them. One was the leopard that harassed Carrots down on the strip, he was the one with the diamond. The other thief was a certain skunk from my past.

"Cain Toxocara?" I said, shocked to see him.

"So it's true, Nick Wilde is a copper now?" said Cain.

Cain was wearing what looked like a military-style vest with several gadgets attached to it.

"You know this fox, Tox?" asked the leopard as he placed the diamond in a satchel.

"Yeah, he and I go way back. We used to be buds, until he had some jerks take the fur from my rear and used it to make a rug. My fur still won't grow back right!"

The leopard laughed. "So that's why your tail is so bald?"

Cain took a homemade Taser from one of the many pockets on his vest and jabbed it into the leopard's leg.

"Ouch, what was that for? You almost made me drop the diamond!" the leopard yelped.

" _That's_ for making fun of me, Allister!" Cain said.

"Why are you doing this, Cain?" I yelled.

He snickered. "You got no business asking me that, Wilde. First you betray me, then you betray everyone else on the strip by becoming a cop!"

"I'm sorry about the whole getting your butt shaved thing. It was wrong of me, and I'm reminded of it every day…mostly because of that stupid shrew. But even so, I shouldn't have done it."

"Well ya did, and now you're gonna pay for it! You're dealing with two of the Nocturne Knights' underbosses here!"

"You're one of the underbosses, Cain?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was promoted when dear ol' dad kicked the bucket. And now I can use my particular skills to their full extent." he held out his custom-made Taser.

"You're talking about your crazy inventions and smelly concoctions?"

"They ain't crazy, Wilde! They're quite useful. Here, let me show you." he pulled out what looked like a grenade. He popped the top and threw it on the ground. It bounced like a rubber ball and came right between me and Carrots.

We both dove out of the way and the bomb went off. Luckily, it was just a smoke bomb. The smoke quickly filled the alley.

"See ya later, Wilde!" yelled Cain as he and Allister made a run for it.

"We…need to go…after…them!" said Hopps between coughs.

We both got up and pursued them. I stopped when we reached the end of the alley, I caught a whiff of something.

"Nick, why did you stop? They're getting away!" said Hopps.

"I smell something…something familiar. Do you smell that, Carrots?"

She smelled the air. "You mean the smoke? Or the skunk?"

"No, it's not that. It kind smells like…apples."

"Well there are probably apples in the dumpster over there. We need to go get the bad guys!"

"I don't think…eh I guess I'm just overthinking it."

 _I could have sworn I smelled Aurora's perfume…_ I thought as we came to the main road.

"Did you see where they went?" I asked.

She looked around. "No, but they couldn't have gone far. There are police everywhere."

"Looks like they finally arrived, took 'em long enough. Clawhauser must have delivered the message." I said.

"What I don't get is why two higher-ups of the Nocturne Knights would come out in the open to steal the Arctic Diamond like this, wouldn't that risk exposure? Talk about risky. Why not send their lackeys to do it?"

"That's a good point, the management is usually much more behind-the-scenes. They must be planning something big, I don't think this is just about some diamond, Carrots."

"I was thinking the same thing. The diamond may just be phase one of their plan. We won't find out until we catch them…wait! I see them!" she said.

I looked around. "Where?"

She pointed across the street, at the Bearing Brother's stock exchange building. They were climbing the emergency stairs on the side of the building.

"Looks like they are heading up to the roof!" she said.

We ran across the street and hopped the fence to get into the side of the building, and we began to climb the stairs.

Cain and Allister had already gotten to the roof.

"They must have a helicopter picking them up!" I yelled up to Hopps, who was leaping up the stairs like a madwoman.

"I got em!" she said.

"Carrots, wait for me. You don't know what to expect up there!"

She had already hopped onto the roof. I scaled the stairs as fast as I could and rolled onto the roof.

Hopps was already fighting Cain. He was trying to shock her with his homemade Taser, but she was way too fast for him. She rabbit-kicked him in the face and he fell to the ground.

He pulled a nightstick off of his belt and hit the back of her legs, knocking her down.

"Carrots!" I yelled. I started to run to her aid, but I was shoved back by Allister.

"Not today, fox." he said.

Hopps jumped right back up. "Don't worry, I can handle bald-butt here. You take care of the leopard!"

"Why you little…" said Cain as he tried to hit her again with the nightstick. She ninja-flipped out of the way with graceful precision.

"Okay, give him Heck Hopps!" I said.

I focused my attention on the leopard-lummox. He tried to punch me, but I rolled underneath him and tripped him. He grabbed my leg.

"Let go of me!" I yelled. Then he opened his mouth wide and bit me on the leg!

"Ouch! Hey, no biting, this isn't preschool or the stone-age!"

"Get over it, fox. You're dealing with the Nocturne Knights, there are no fair fights!" he grabbed me and threw me across the roof. I almost got thrown off but I managed to grab onto the edge and pull myself up.

I got up. "Boy you're strong, I'll give ya that. But strong only goes so far when you're stupid."

"I'm not stupid, fox. You're stupid!"

"Well that has to be the best comeback I've heard in a while." I said sarcastically.

I could hear the distant humming of a helicopter propeller. I tackled Allister to the ground and grabbed for the handcuffs in my back pocket. "Hurry up, Carrots. Their getaway copter is coming!"

I looked over and she had Cain in a chokehold, wrestling him to the ground. What a tough little bunny!

I took the handcuffs and began to put them around Allister's wrist. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you-" he threw me off of him in a blind rage before I could lock them.

"You're not getting me today, fox cop!" he said.

He ran over to Hopps just as she was about to cuff Cain. He picked her up and tossed her like she was some cheap toy. I ran as fast as I could and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Thanks, Nick." she said.

The helicopter arrived, it was hovering right above us. They threw down a ladder, and Cain and Allister began to climb it. The helicopter began to ascend.

"We can't let them leave with the diamond!" said Hopps.

I ran toward the helicopter and leapt into the air. I caught onto the ladder and began climbing it. I reached for the satchel around Allister's shoulder that he put the diamond it and held on tight. "Hey, let go fox!" Allister yelled, trying to get me off.

"Ain't happening, spot!" I said.

Cain popped his head out of the helicopter. "You got a choice, Wilde. Try to fight us, or try to save the bunny."

"What are you talking about?" I yelled.

Cain took a dart gun out and aimed it at Hopps. He took a shot, and I heard her scream. I looked down, Hopps was hit. "Carrots!" I yelled.

"That dart contains an extremely deadly toxin of my own design, it's a nasty piece of work too. One of my best concoctions." he cackled.

I immediately let go of the satchel and jumped back down onto the roof. I ran to Hopps and she pulled dart out of her shoulder. She began swaying, she could hardly stand. She collapsed in my arms.

"Carrots!"

"Nick. I'm sorry, I messed up the mission." she said quietly.

"Don't be stupid, you didn't ruin anything."

"I need…I need to tell you something." she was struggling to speak.

"What is it?" I asked, trying my hardest not to panic.

She put her hand on my cheek. "I…I always wanted to tell you that…" tears began to form in her eyes. "I..l-ove." I felt her body go limp.

"C-Carrots?"

She didn't answer.

"Carrots! No, no, no! Don't do this, Carrots. I need you!"

I shook her. I could feel the tears coming, I couldn't hold them in.

"Oh God, please, no. Carrots…Hopps…JUDY!"


	9. Chapter 9: If I lost you

Chapter 9: If I lose you…

-Told by Nick-

I didn't know what to do, I was on the roof of a tall building and the bunny that I love was unconscious in my hands. I couldn't go down the emergency stairs, they were too steep and I could drop her. I couldn't call anyone because I left my phone in the car, and Carrots left my pager at the museum. My only hope was the roof door that led into the building. I carefully placed her down and ran to the door.

"Oh, please be unlocked…" I said as I turned the doorknob. It was a miracle from on High, the door was unlocked!

I went back to Judy and picked her up. I ran down the stairs to the top floor of the building, rushed to the elevator and hit the down button. The elevator was taking too long. I kept hitting the button in a panic. It said it was still on the lobby floor.

"Forget it!" I yelled. I started running down the stairs with Hopps in my hands. I ran as fast as I could. My leg hurt from the bite from Allister, but I couldn't let that stop me. I had to focus, I had to get Carrots to the hospital before it was too late. Cain was a slimy jerk, but he was a genius at chemical and mechanical engineering. I knew whatever he shot into her, it wasn't good.

I finally made it to the main floor. I kicked open the door that led into the lobby. "Somebody help, please!" I yelled.

There were only a few animals left in the building, it was almost time for them to close. I was getting several unnerving stares. Most of the animals there were rabbits themselves. I saw one of them call 911. "Hello, police? There's a fox here who has a rabbit in his hands, she's not moving. Get over here quick, he may start attacking."

"Attacking? Sir, _I'm_ a police officer. I'm officer Nickolas Wilde, and this is my…she's my partner. She's been hurt, she needs to go to the hospital."

"Let me see your badge then, _officer._ " said the rabbit.

"I don't…have it. I left it in my uniform which is back at my place."

"Right…we'll get this sorted out when the real cops get here." The rabbit slowly walked up to me. "Now give me the rabbit nice and slow."

"Back off, bunns!" I snapped.

Startled, he took a step back.

There were police lights out front, and officer Wolford walked in.

"Wolford!" I yelled as I ran up to him.

"Wilde? What happened, I thought you were supposed to be on parking duty tonight?"

"Never mind that, I need you to take me and Carrots to the hospital, she's been injured!"

He gave me a confused look.

"Come on, Wolford!" I yelled as I ran outside.

He quickly followed after me. When we got outside, he opened the passenger side door. I got it and held on to Judy as tightly as I could. Wolford climbed in to the driver's seat and turned on the car. He blared the sirens and zoomed out toward the Mount Camel Emergency Medical Center.

She didn't so much as move, her heartbeat was soft and feeble, and she felt cold, but she was alive.

 _Why couldn't it have been me?_ I thought. _Nobody would miss a fox like me, people only started to trust me because of Carrots. The world needs someone like her, to make it a better place and…I know I won't be able to go on without her._

"So what happened, Wilde?" asked Wolford.

I didn't answer, I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted to wake up in a world where Hopps was fine, where we were just working a normal case, where we were happy.

"Wilde?" he asked.

"Shut up and drive!" I yelled.

He directed his attention toward the road, we rode in silence the rest of the way. I knew he was just trying to help, but I really didn't care. All I cared about was getting Hopps to the hospital.

We arrived at the emergency room about twenty-five minutes after she was shot. I got out of the car and ran into the emergency room.

"Please…help her!" I screamed in a panic.

Everyone was staring at me. A zebra nurse from behind the counter calmly walked over to me. "Sir, please remain calm and tell me what happened?"

 _They're so calm, why are they so calm? Can't they see that my love was dying…can't they see that my entire world was ending?_

"You gotta help her. She… she was shot with something. He shot her and she went down."

Another zebra nurse picked up the phone. "We have a code 357, bunny down. Repeat, we have a bunny down."

"Sir, we have the doctors on their way."

"Tell them to hurry!"

A team of medics rushed in with a rabbit-sized gurney. A pig medic took her out of my arms. I really didn't want to give her up, but I knew I had to.

A kangaroo doctor came leaping into the waiting room. She took one look at Hopps. "Get her into ICU, hurry."

They started rolling her trough two giant twin doors. I followed them, but was stopped by the kangaroo. "I'm sorry, you can't come back right now."

"What are you talking about!? I need to see if she's gonna be okay."

She glared at me. "Sir, you're _obviously_ not kin to the patient, so you can't come back here. I will come get you after I take a look at her condition and run some tests."

"But…she."

"I'm not going to ask you again, sir. If you want to help, tell me what happened."

"We're police officers, she's my partner. We were staking out the Arctic Diamond ball at the Zootopia art museum. Two thieves stole the diamond and we chased after them. One of them…he shot her. That horrid skunk shot her with a dart."

She raised her eyebrow. "A…dart?"

"Yes, a dart. He said it had some sort of toxin in it, and that he made it himself." I began to tear up. It all hit me at once. I fell to my knees and started to cry. "Please, please save her. You have to."

She touched my shoulder. "I promise you that I will do what I can. Now please, take a seat in the waiting room."

I got up and nodded. I walked over to an empty seat in the far corner of the room. I sat in the fetal position to try to calm myself down. My whole body was shaking, my heart hurt. I didn't know what was going to happen to my Carrots. All I could do was pray that she was going to be okay.

 _I'll do anything if it means that she'll be okay. I'll even give up blueberries for a whole year, make it two. I'll stop calling her cute…I know how much she hates it. I'll stop making fun of the chief. Anything it takes. Please, just bring her back to me…let her be okay._

Wolford sat next to me. "So how is she, Wilde?"

"I don't know. They're gonna run some tests."

"Poor bunny." he whispered.

"I'll get him… I swear I'll get that bald skunk for this! He's gonna pay!"

Several hours passed with no word of Judy's condition. Wolford had left to help the others at the museum. I was alone with my torturous thoughts.

"Excuse me?" a voice said.

I looked up and it was the kangaroo doctor. I quickly got up from my seat. "How is she, doc? Is she going to be okay?"

She had a somber look on her face. "I'm going to be honest with you. She is still unresponsive, but the good news is that she has a stable heartbeat and she is breathing on her own for the moment."

"Do you think she'll pull through?" I asked.

"I'm afraid only time will tell. I do have another piece of good news. We ran a toxicology screen, and the primary toxin that was used in the cocktail is a compound called _Karottotoxin._ The toxin itself is produced by a bacterium that can sometimes grow on improperly stored carrots. Rabbits are one of the few animals that can resist this dangerous toxin."

"So that means she'll be alright?" I asked, hoping and praying for a simple _yes she will._

"I really do not want to give you false hope. There were at least three other toxins in a much smaller concentration that we found in her system, and those could very well cause irreversible damage to her body. Honestly, she's pretty far from alright. I've seen animals in much better condition that we've lost when they've had just one of these toxins in their body, let alone three or four. But she may surprise us, I've also seen animals survive worse."

I looked at the floor, my heart started to ache again.

"Do you want to see her? Clearly you two are close, so I can make an exception to the rule."

"I would, Dr, I really would." I said.

She held out her hand. "I'm Dr. Leeps."

I shook her hand. "Officer Nick Wilde."

"If you would follow me."

I followed her down the hall and into a room. I saw my sweet, sweet Carrots there on the bed, she just looked like she was asleep.

"I'll be down the hall if you need me. I'll leave you two alone." said Dr. Leeps.

"Thank you, Doc." I said.

She nodded and left the room.

I walked over to her bed and stroked her cheek. "Oh, Carrots…"

I reached out and held her adorable little hand.

I felt a wave of emotion crashing inside of me, and I collapsed on the side of the bed. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I started weeping, I couldn't stop. I just held onto her hand while I was on my knees on the floor. "Please, Carrots…please come back to me. I need you. You gotta fight, fight with everything you have in you. You've got your whole life to live. Don't let this be the thing that knocks you down."

I sat there holding her hand for who knows how long. I sat there regretting so much. I never told her how I felt, if only I told her how much I love her.

 _If I lose you…I will lose myself. You make me strong, Carrots. You helped me become the fox that dared to be brave, loyal, helpful and trustworthy. It was you, you sly bunny. I can't lose you…_


	10. Chapter 10: Facing the Consequences

Chapter 10: Facing the Consequences

-Told by Nick-

I woke up on the floor next to Carrots' bed, still holding her hand. My body was sore from sleeping in the sitting position all night. I got up and stretched.

There was a knock on the door, and Dr. Leeps walked in.

"Excuse me, Officer Wilde?" she said.

"Yeah?" I said.

"There's someone outside who wishes to see you, do you want me to send them in?"

I looked at Hopps, she was still unconscious. I didn't want anyone to see her like that.

"No, I'll come out and talk to 'em. Thank you, Doc."

She nodded and began to leave the room, but she was almost knocked over by none other than Aurora Foxtrot.

"Oh, Nick!" she yelled as she leaped on me. "I'm _so_ sorry!"

She almost knocked me over. "Woah there, Aurora!" I said.

"Excuse me?" said Dr. Leeps. "I didn't give you the okay to come in here!"

"It's alright." I said.

"You sure?" asked the Doc.

"Yeah."

She nodded and left the room.

"What are you doing here, Aurora?"

She looked up at me, still giving me the death-grip hug. "I heard on the news what happened. They said that the thieves got away with the diamond, and that they took down a bunny police officer who went after them, and that she's in critical condition."

"News really does travel fast."

Aurora squeezed me tighter. "I just _had_ to come to see how you were holding up. Poor foxy, you look exhausted!"

"To see how _I'm_ holding up?" I said angrily.

I pried her off of me. "If you didn't notice, I'm not the one fighting for my life!" I didn't know why I was so mad.

"I'm sorry…" she said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay too."

"I'll be fine once Carrots wakes up."

She shoved her snout into my chest. "I hope she makes it through." she said, without a hint of sincerity.

I smelled her perfume, which brought me back to the alley. I backed away from her.

"Aurora…can I ask you something?"

She took a step toward me. "Sure can, foxy!"

"Were you at the museum last night?"

"N-no, of course not. I was at home with my grandma."

"Funny thing is, when Carrots and I were in the back alley chasing the leopard and skunk, I got a whiff of your perfume."

"That's ridiculous!" she said. "It must have been something else."

"I have a very keen nose, Aurora. You know how us foxes are. And there was no mistake, I smelled your perfume. And you told me that it was custom made, and I don't think that scent is Cain or Allister's style."

"M-maybe you thought you smelled it because you missed me?" she threw herself at me again. "I know I missed you."

"Get off of me." I said as calmly as I could. "I'm going to say this once: I do not have feelings for you, Aurora. In fact, I'm thinking that you set me and Carrots up. And I'm warning you, if I _do_ discover that you had anything to do with what happened last night, then you're going to wish you never met me!"

Her expression got cold. "Why would you think poor, little ol' me would have something to do with such a roughneck group such as the Nocturne Knights? I'm this victim here. But I forgive you, you're just grieving because you might lose that bunny."

"She's not just any bunny! She's…she's _my_ bunny."

"So you don't have feelings for me, but you have feelings for her? She's a rabbit, you're a fox."

"Tch, I don't care. I'd take her over any girl in the world, bunny ears and all."

She slowly got closer to me with that eerie cold expression, her burning orange eyes froze me to my core. "It's so sad that the rabbit you love so much is dying, it really is a shame." she kissed my cheek and turned around to walk away, and her tail brushed against my face.

"If you need someone to comfort you, let me know foxy. It really is a pity, I guess bunnies really don't make good cops." Her voice was void of sympathy, it was hollow and almost vicious.

"Bye now, Foxy. I'll see you soon." she said as she walked out of the room.

That whole encounter made me even more suspicious. Something was off about her.

Dr. Leeps walked into the room. "Is everything alright, Officer?"

"Everything's just peachy, Doc. I'm doing just-" I looked at my tuxedo and noticed several long, silver hairs stuck to it.

 _Must be Aurora's hair._ I thought.

"Hey Doc?"

"Yes?" she responded.

"You wouldn't happen to have a pair of tweezers on you, would ya? Oh, and gloves too."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "What for?"

"I think I have a new lead in this case, and I need to collect some evidence."

She walked over to the medical drawer and opened it up, there were about a dozen different glove sizes and shapes. She grabbed a pair from the bottom of the drawer. "These gloves are for coyotes, think they will fit?" she handed them to me.

"Close enough." I said.

I put on the gloves and she handed me a pair of hemostats. "This is the closest thing I have to tweezers."

I pulled an evidence bag out of my back pocket. Luckily I didn't forget everything in my uniform pants. "That'll work great."

I plucked the silver hairs from my tuxedo and put it in the bag.

"Thanks, doc. You've been a real help!"

She smiled. "No problem, Officer Wilde. Now, if I were you I would clean up and get some actual rest. You look a hot mess if you don't mind me saying."

"I'll do my best." I said.

Dr. Leeps left the room.

I walked back to the bed and nuzzled Judy's cheek. "Don't worry your beautiful little head, Carrots. I'll make sure that you get the justice you deserve. Just promise me you'll do _your_ job and get better." I whispered. "Now I'll be right back, I just gotta go home real quick to get cleaned up like the doc said."

I walked out of her room and ran into Dr. Leeps. "Hey doc? I'm going to go home just for a little bit. Can you please make sure she's taken care of while I'm gone?"

"You don't have to worry, Officer Wilde."

I managed to smile. "You can call me Nick."

"Nick then…she's in good hands."

I walked out to the waiting room.

"Wilde!" I heard someone yell.

I turned toward the entrance and saw chief Bogo. He looked angrier than a hippo with a toothache.

"Chief, what are you doing here?"

He marched up to me. "Let's go somewhere a little more private." he said. He led me into a broom closet on the other side of the waiting room and slammed the door.

"Chief, before you say anything…"

"Shut your mouth!" he snapped. "You have crossed the line this time, fox! I've had it up to here with you. Look at what you've done? You've corrupted Hopps into blatantly disobeying orders. I mean, I thought the insubordination with Otterton was bad…but since you've become her partner, she's gotten more and more disobedient. And look where it got her!"

"Look, sir…"

"I am still talking! You are hereby suspended, Wilde. For six months."

"Six months!?"

"With no pay. Now, kindly hand in your gun and badge!"

"I…I don't have them with me."

"You what?"

"I left them at home when Hopps and I went to the museum to stake it out."

"Of course you did! If Hopps weren't unconscious she would be suspended too, she's in for a rude awakening when she wakes up!"

"Sir, please don't take it out on Carrots. This was…this was all my idea."

"Even if it was, it's guilt by association. I really hope she pulls out of this, I really do. But I am sick of this! Go home, get your gun and your badge, and come to the station to turn them in. I will see you in a few hours!"

"Yes, sir."

He opened the door, and almost broke it off of its hinges. I walked out, and everyone in the waiting room was staring at me. I dragged myself out, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

 _Well, at least now I can be with Judy without worrying about work._ I thought as I was walking home.

When I got there, I saw Carrots' uniform folded neatly on a chair in the kitchen. She always was a clean freak. I tried to keep in the tears, I didn't have time to cry. I hopped in the shower and got cleaned up. I put on my favorite green tropical shirt and my good ol' indigo stripy tie.

On my way out, I grabbed my badge and gun from my uniform.

I walked to where we dumped our car and drove it to the station. I walked in, and the whole building got quiet. I ignored all of the judgmental glares and made my way to the chief's office. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." he said.

I walked in. "I'm here, sir." I said. I walked up to his desk and laid my gun and badge down.

"I'm sorry, Wilde. You'd be a great cop if you would just listen to orders."

"I'm sorry too, sir. I'll see you in six months…" I walked out of his office and slumped down the stairs.

Clawhauser waved me down as I tried to walk out of the door. "Nick…"

I turned around. "Not now, Clawhauser."

"Could you please come here for a sec?" his voice was full of sadness.

I hesitantly walked behind his desk and sat in the empty seat next to his. "What is it?"

"I just want you to know that…that I didn't tell the chief. And neither did Wolford. Yeah, Wolford told me what happened. Poor Judy." he started to cry.

I patted his back. "There, there Clawhauser. She'll pull through this, you know she's a fighter."

"Those Nocturne Knights have gone too far. We need to do something." he said.

"Oh, that reminds me." I said.

"Reminds you of what?"

"Come to my apartment in about an hour, I have something pertaining to the case."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you later, but this absolutely _has_ to stay between us."

He looked at me as seriously as he could. "Okay, I'll be there."

"Good to hear."

I got down and left the station. I rushed home and tried to take some notes before Clawhauser came to pick up the evidence bag.

I tried to find the carrot pen, but I couldn't find it! I left it right on the coffee table! I started to panic, it's a little embarrassing to admit but it's my most prized possession.

After I calmed down, I grabbed another pen that was on the coffee table and wrote down some notes for Clawhauser. I finished just in time. There he was, knocking on my door. I grabbed the notes along with the evidence bag.

I opened the door. "Thanks for coming." I said.

"No problem, anything to help. I wanna get these bad guys for doing what they did to Judy."

"Me too, but remember…this is just between us." I handed him the bag.

"What's this?" he asked.

I handed him the notes. "I need to you send this to forensics and see what they find. Compare it to a Ms. Aurora Foxtrot. She said she was a school teacher so she should be on file."

"Is she a suspect?" he asked.

"Kinda, let's just say I have reason to believe she's not exactly who she says she is."

"Got it, I have a friend in forensics. He'll do this on the down low. I'll bring the results to you myself when it's all done."

"Sounds good." I said, giving him a thumbs up.

He was about to leave.

"Wait!" I said.

"What?" he said, wheezing in surprise.

"This friend of yours, he's not a sloth is he?" I asked. Because that would be my luck.

"No, he's a fellow cheetah. He'll get it done in a hurry."

"I sure hope so." I said.

As soon as he left, I packed some things in a backpack and headed out the door. I was not going to leave Carrots there by herself while she was fighting for her life. I was going to stay by her side until she woke up.

I got back to the hospital just as the sun began to set. I walked into Hopps' room, and Dr. Leeps was just walking out.

"Officer Wi-I mean, Nick. Welcome back. I was just taking a look at her before you got here."

"How's she doing?" I asked.

"Nothing had improved too drastically, I'm afraid. The good news is that she is still breathing on her own, and her heart rate is a bit more regular."

"That's good at least."

The Doc left the room, and I was all alone with my bunny.

I walked over to the bed. "I'm back, Carrots." I whispered. I grabbed her hand. "And this is where I'm gonna stay until you wake up." I bent down and kissed her cheek.

Her hand tightened around mine. "Carrots?"

She was still unconscious, but she was holding my hand. She was holding my hand!

"Doc!" I yelled.

Dr. Leeps ran in. "What is it?"

"She grabbed my hand!"

"What?"

"Yeah, she grabbed my hand just now."

Dr. Leeps looked at Hopps and smiled. "You know, most other doctors would say it was just an involuntary muscle spasm. But when I look at her face, I see a smile. Even though her body is too weak for her to wake up, I'd say she mustered up enough strength to let you know she'll be alright."

"Do you think so?" I asked.

"I do, because she has someone like you. She's got a reason to fight."

"Thank you…thank you, Doc."

"Any time, Nick. I can tell you have deep feelings for her. She's a lucky rabbit."

"You're wrong, I'm the lucky one Doc. She brought me out of a rough and lonely life. She's not just my friend and my partner, she's my angel."

"Ah, then you must be her angel too."

"What do you mean?"

"You're here for her like she's been there for you. You're her guardian angel, Nick."

"I'm no angel…"

"I'm sure your rabbit would disagree. At any rate, I've got to make my final rounds. I will see you tomorrow."

Dr. Leeps left the room. Hopps loosened her grip just enough for me to get my hand free. I'll tell ya, even when she's unconscious that bunny has a strong grip!

I got a blanket from my bag. It was another gift from Hopps, and my second most prized possession. She made it herself, it had an image of a little plushy fox hugging a giant carrot sewn into it. I plopped on the couch and covered myself up with the blanket. I faced Hopps' bed.

"Hang in there, Carrots." I whispered to her. I fell asleep and dreamt of her all night, good dreams, happy dreams, hopeful dreams.


	11. Chapter 11: Into the Light

Chapter 11: Into the Light

-Told by Judy-

 _What happened, why can't I see anything? Why can't I feel anything? Last thing I remember was that we were on the roof, and Nick was holding me. I tried to tell him how I feel about him but I felt so weak and tired. Oh I remember, that stupid skunk shot me! What a jerk!_

" _Carrots…"_

 _Nick, is that you?_

" _Please come back to me."_

 _I can barely hear you! Nick? Nick! Please keep talking!_

" _I'm back, Carrots. And this is where I'm gonna stay until you wake up."_

 _Nick, why is your voice all muffled? Wait, I feel something. It's a warmth…I feel it on my cheek, and on my hand. If I could just move my hand._

" _Carrots?"_

 _What is it, Nick?_

" _Doc…she grabbed my hand!"_

 _I did? What's going on? I really wish I could see…and now I can't hear anything anymore. Am I…am I dying?_

 _Wait, I see something. It's so far away…it's too bright. It's getting closer now. Wait, I'm don't want to go, I want to stay. I want to be with him. It's so bright…why is it so bright? I'm not ready to go. I don't want to go, I don't…_

"Want to go!" I yelled as my eyes adjusted.

I was in a hospital room. It was dark, but there was light peering in from outside through a little rip in the curtain. It shined right into my eyes. I sat up.

 _I can move!_ I thought to myself.

I was able to get out of bed, howbeit a bit clumsily. I could walk, to my relief. I was quite wobbly, though.

I was startled by some movement over on the couch. I still couldn't see that well. I walked over to the couch to investigate. When my eyes adjusted a little more I saw who it was.

It was Nick. He was curled up in a ball, covered with the blanket I made him.

I tripped and fell on top of him. He woke up, startled. "Who, wha-what?" He looked at me. He didn't say anything for a whole minute or two.

"What's with the awkward silence?" I asked.

"…promise me that if I blink, you'll still be there." he said.

"Don't be creepy." I said. I tried to get up, but fell over again.

"Here, let me." said Nick. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me back to my bed. "You just woke up, don't strain yourself."

"Nick, I walked like five feet. I'm not running a marathon."

"You've been out for a week-and-a-half. So I'd say five feet is pushing it."

"I've been out for that long?"

"Yeah. You…kind of scared me there, Carrots. I thought I was gonna lose my favorite bunny."

I punched him in the arm. "No, you won't get rid of me that easily."

"I shoulda figured. Welcome back, Hopps." he smiled. "Now, stay put and I'll go get the Doc. And are you hungry? I'll grab some food for ya." he ran out of the room.

I took a deep breath, it felt so good to be awake. I could move, I could see, I could hear. And I could eat! I was so hungry!

A kangaroo doctor walked in.

"Officer Hopps? I am Dr. Leeps, I've been taking care of you since you arrived. It is both a pleasant surprise and a relief to see you awake after your ordeal. You really scared us there."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor. And thank you for everything."

She got out a pen from her pocket. "Follow the pen with your eyes." She quickly moved the pen up, down, left and right. I followed her instructions.

"Excellent." she said.

She looked at my gums. "Good, nice and pink."

Dr. Leeps took out her ophthalmoscope and looked at my eyes. "It's a real pleasure to meet you now that you're awake. Nick's told me all about you." she said.

Nick walked into the room with some applesauce, a pint of carrot juice and a cup of coffee. He laid the applesauce and carrot juice on the little table next to my bed.

"I hope he told you good things." I said, staring at him.

He took a drink of his coffee.

"Oh my, yes. From what he's told me, you sound like an… _angel._ "

Nick spat his coffee out.

Dr. Leeps looked at Nick and winked. "What's wrong Nick, are you embarrassed?"

He looked away. "N-no, of course not! My coffee went down the wrong pipe."

"I'm sure that's what it is." said Dr. Leeps. "Well, it looks like you're stable. But it'll be a few days before I can discharge you, I need to monitor you to make sure you're on the mend."

"I understand, Doctor. Thank you."

"It really was nice to meet you, Officer Hopps."

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Leeps."

She walked past Nick. "I trust you'll take care of her while I'm off doing my rounds?"

"You bet your pouch I will, Doc!"

So there we were, alone. My stomach was growling. Nick grabbed the applesauce and the carrot juice and pulled up a chair that was in the corner of the room.

"All right, Carrots. I got you some carrot juice that I knew you'd love, and some applesauce. Gotta start off with something soft." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a spoon that was in a plastic cover and opened it with his teeth. He opened the applesauce.

I gave him a disturbed look. "You're seriously not going to feed me like I'm two years old, are you? I can feed myself you know."

"Now Carrots, I can't believe you would think I would be so low as to treat you like a baby! I just don't want you to drop food all over yourself, or did you not notice how shaky your hands are?"

I looked at my hands, they were shaking pretty bad.

He scooped up some applesauce. "Now whose ready for the toot-toot train?" he pretended the spoon was a train and slowly got closer to my mouth, he even made chugging noises.

"You are such a dumb fox!" I said.

"C'mon, bunny. The train has to make it to the station."

I took a bite of the applesauce.

"That's my girl, now do you need burped?"

I punched him in the arm. "Shut up!"

He grabbed the carrot juice and poked a hole in the carton with a straw. "Aw, looks like the widdle bunny is cranky. Here's a ba-ba." He said with an obnoxious smile.

"Not funny!" I said, trying not to laugh.

He chuckled. "I thought it was pretty funny!"

After my rather light dinner, after we had a few minutes to stop laughing, I asked him how things were going with the case.

"Did you find the skunk and leopard?"

His face went from its normal happy-go-lucky expression to almost forlorn. "About that, Carrots…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, we kinda got suspended for six months."

"Six months!?"

"Yeah, chief Bogo found out about what happened and he wasn't happy. I turned in my badge and gun the day after I brought you here."

"Oh no…how are we going to go after the Nocturne Knights now? We were so close, we can't give up!"

"Hey this is us we're talking about, the dream team! We didn't need their help with the Night Howler case, did we?"

"No, but this is different."

"Psh, it's not _that_ different. We got this, Carrots."

"I hope so."

"But you gotta rest up, or you won't be helping anybody!"

"I've been asleep for a week and a half. I think I'm good on the sleep."

"Hopps, you were in a coma. I don't think that counts as sleep."

"Oh, same difference!"

"Don't make me slip you some Z-quill, Hopps."

"You wouldn't, I just woke up from a coma!"

"Don't tempt me." he said.

His phone went off. "Oh, I gotta take this Carrots. It might have something to do with the case." He walked out of the room and answered his phone.

I tried to listen in to what he was saying, but I couldn't hear anything. He walked in a few minutes later.

"I gotta go. It's important."

"Was it about the case?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"Okay…just be careful."

"I will. Oh, and Carrots." he said as he placed his paw on my arm. "There's something else that I want to talk about when I come back." his face was somber.

"Is it bad?" I asked.

"Well that depends…"

"Depends on what?"

"You." He said.

"Me?"

"Let's just say that recent events have taught me that I need to take a stand and confess something to you. But it'll have to wait 'til I get back. I gotta hurry." He got up and ran out of the room. "See you later, Carrots!"

"Okay…" I said.

 _What does he want to tell me?_ I thought. _It's probably something about his past. He should know by now that I see him for who he is now, and that the fox he was won't change that._

Dr. Leeps walked into the room. "Where did Nick run off to? I ran into him and he told me that he had to go."

"He said it was important, something about the case we were working on."

"At any rate, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm feeling pretty good. A little weak, but good otherwise."

"That's perfectly normal for what you went through. But regardless of this unfortunate incident, I must say that you are one blessed bunny."

"How so?" I asked.

"That fox has been by your side this whole time. He has spent every night here while you were bedridden. He made sure you got your meds when you needed them, he made sure someone knew when he had to go somewhere so you wouldn't be alone for long. He even made a little surprise for when you woke up."

She walked over toward the door. There was a curtain that covered a small portion of the room. She moved the curtain to reveal a table that was covered in flowers and stuffed-animals.

"He…he brought all of those?" I asked.

"Yes, he did." she said as she grabbed a card on the table and handed it to me.

It had an animated carrot with a bandaid on it, it said **Get well soon.**

I opened it, he had written something inside.

 _Carrots, if you're reading this then you are obviously awake. Kudos! I just wanted to give you something to brighten up the room. You deserve so much more. If I could, I would fill the whole room with flowers…but the Doc said I couldn't. You better feel better soon, or else!_

 _Love, Nick_

I started to cry.

"What's wrong, dear?" asked Doctor Hopps.

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. He's such a good friend…"

"Oh, how naïve the two of you are when it comes to each other…" the Doctor muttered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can't be the one to tell you, dear. Although it _should_ be obvious, I mean bright neon sign obvious."

I was confused.

She sighed. "Okay, apparently it's not that obvious. I've got to go now, dear. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do, Doctor."

I looked at the card for a few hours. I kept thinking back to our dance that night, looking into his emerald-green eyes. I remembered how warm he made me feel inside.

I laid myself down to get some sleep. I wondered what was taking Nick so long. The telephone in the hospital room rang, and it startled me. I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Judy? It's Clawhauser!"

"Clawhauser? What are you doing calling so late?"

"Judy, something has happened…" his voice was shaky.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Just get over to the Foxtrot estate if you can. Hurry, Nick's getting…"

"What happened to Nick?"

"I gotta go." he said.

"Wait, Clawhauser…what happened to Nick?" the phone went silent.

 _What could have happened? Is Nick okay? I've got to get to the Foxtrot mansion…_


	12. Chapter 12: The Foxtrot Mansion

Chapter 12: The Foxtrot Mansion

-Told by Nick-

I walked out into the hall and answered my phone. "Hey, Clawhauser. Did the results come in yet?"

"Yeah, I just got the results delivered a few minutes ago. What do you want me to do with them?"

"Meet me at my place in twenty."

"Okay, will do."

"Wait, I forgot to tell you that Carrots is awake!"

"Whaaaaaaat!? She is? Oh what a relief, how is our little bunny buddy doing?"

"Good, she's eating and she's able to walk, and boy is she able to talk. Let me tell you, she's just as pigheaded as ever." I said a little too loud just as a pig nurse walked by. She gave me an offended look and a high pitched "Hmph!"

"That's so great. It looks like things are turning around." he said.

"Seems that way. Alright, I'll see ya in twenty. Thanks Clawhauser, I owe ya."

"Well I wouldn't mind a donut or two…or twelve."

"You got it, man."

"This is Clawhauser, over and out…" he giggled. "I've always wanted to say that."

"…Bye Clawhauser." I said as I ended the call.

I walked back into Carrots' room. "I gotta go. It's important."

"Was it about the case?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"Okay…just be careful." she said with concern.

"I will. Oh, and Carrots..." I placed by hand on her arm. "There's something else that I want to talk about when I come back." I said, my legs were shaking a bit.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"Well that depends…"

"Depends on what?"

 _It depends on how you feel about me, if you could ever love a sly fox…_ I thought.

"You." I said.

"Me?"

 _You have to tell her, Nick! You almost lost her, you almost missed your opportunity._

"Let's just say that recent events have taught me that I need to take a stand and confess something to you. But it'll have to wait 'til I get back. I gotta hurry." I got up and ran out of the room. "See you later, Carrots!"

 _Boy this is gonna be something. I really hope she takes it well. I mean, I love her more than anything. And I would gladly do anything if it meant that she could be happy. After all, who can resist that cute smile?_

While I was lost in thought, I ran into Dr. Leeps again. "Woah, sorry Doc."

"It's okay, Nick. Are you heading out?"

"Yeah, I've got something that I need to take care of."

"Alright, I will go check on that angel of yours."

I could feel my cheeks getting warm. "Th-thanks Doc. Oh, and could you do me a favor and show her the flowers and such on the table? And give her the card? It might make things a little easier for me to talk to her when I get back."

"Finally going to admit your unrelenting love to her? Ah, how romantic…"

My cheeks got even hotter. "I-uh…yeah."

"Aww, I can't wait. You two will make such a lovely couple."

"That's my hope, but I don't know how she'll take it. I mean, I'm a fox…she's a bunny."

"And this is Zootopia, dear Nickolas. Love will win out in the end, trust me. I think she'll return your affections."

"I really hope so…anyway, I gotta go. See ya Doc!"

"Bye bye, Romeo." she giggled.

I sprinted home as fast as I could. I got there just as Clawhauser was pulling in the parking lot. He hobbled out of his car. "Wow, does driving take it out of ya." he wheezed.

"Clawhauser, you sit while you drive. How can you get winded by sitting?"

"Well I was going down the freeway going like 70 miles an hour."

"You're a cheetah, and you were on the track team in High School! You _ran_ 70 miles an hour before in short sprints."

"Yeah well, it's been a little while since I've done that. The only time I ever run is if I see a spider or if they're having free donut day down at the bakery."

"Oh, Clawhauser…" I said.

He handed me a folder. "Here are the results of the DNA test. It came back really weird."

"How so?"

"Well the thing is…my buddy ran the test and compared it to Aurora Foxtrot and it came back negative. And it wasn't arctic fox fur, it was red fox fur."

"Red fox fur? Huh, maybe it was my fur that was stuck on my clothes…but I could have sworn the hairs were a silvery color."

"Nope, it wasn't your fur. The fur was from a female red fox, and the isotopes indicated that this red fox came from somewhere up in Russia."

"…some of the red foxes aren't red at all." I said, remembering something that Carrots said when we were going to see Mr. Big.

"Wha?" said Clawhauser, confused.

"Follow me." I said. We went into my apartment. I looked around for Carrots' National Geographic magazine, she left it here when we went on that stake out to the museum. I saw it on the kitchen table and picked it up. I flipped to the article about the red foxes in Russia. I turned the book around and showed Clawhauser.

"Look, right here! See the pictures? Carrots was reading this article, and it said that there are certain red foxes in Russia that are showing genetic variation. Some aren't even red at all…some are brown, black, spotted, and some are even all white!"

He had a confused look on his face. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that the Aurora Foxtrot that we brought up from the Nocturnal Strip isn't Aurora Foxtrot, but an impersonator! She's a red fox that happens to be white."

"That's crazy!" he said.

"But then…where is the _real_ Aurora Foxtrot?" I asked.

"That's a good question."

"This is getting a lot more complicated by the minute…we need to find out where the real Aurora is, and why this fox girl is impersonating her."

As if by some act of fate, my phone rang. I looked at the caller I.D, it was coming from the Foxtrot mansion.

I answered it. "Hello?"

"Excuse me, officer Wilde? This is Giles, Madame Shade's butler."

"What can I do for you, Giles?"

He sounded a little panicked. "I think someone is trying to steal the other half of the Arctic Diamond. Whoever it is has hacked into the security system and shut it all down."

"I'll be right there, don't worry." I hung up the phone.

"We gotta go to the Foxtrot mansion. There's something going on there, someone might be trying to steal the other half of the Arctic Diamond. And I think I know who it is."

We got into Clawhauser's beat-up old station wagon and drove to Tundra Town. We reached the Foxtrot estate, the gate was standing wide open. Not a good sign. We drove up to the house, and the front door was also open.

I got out of the car. "Thanks, Clawhauser. I'll take it from here."

"I'm not going let you go in alone!" he said.

"Yes, you are. You're not losing your job because of me. I'll be fine, go back to the station before anyone starts to get suspicious."

"No, I'm going in with you."

"No you're not. I'm going in alone, get out of here Clawhauser. Now!"

"But Nick…"

"Go! Don't make me tell everyone that you called off work that one time so you could go to the Gezelle meet-and-greet."

His face got red. "Okay, I'm going. Just be careful."

"I will."

"Call me if you get into any trouble." He said as he drove off.

I walked up the stairs and into the house. "Hello?"

"Psst." I heard someone whisper.

Giles was hiding under a table. Or rather, the table was laying on top of him. I know that it was a serious moment, but try to imagine a full-grown polar bear hiding under a table meant for an arctic fox. Yeah, real inconspicuous.

"Giles, what's the word?"

He got up and the table fell down. "They're downstairs, trying to break into the vault. Hurry, they're going to take the diamond."

He led me down the hall into the giant dining room. I looked out of the window into the back yard, I saw a white limo hidden under a blanket of snow.

 _Polar bears…a white limo…stealing diamonds?_ I realized that this situation had just gotten unfavorable.

"Excuse me, Giles. But I need to call for backup real quick."

He turned to me. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Wilde."

I slowly backed away and tried to make a run for it, but I was blocked by Bobby. "You ain't goin' nowhere fox!" He grabbed me, and pulled my arms behind my back.

"You're the two polar bears who have been stealing the diamonds around Tundra Town, trying to frame Mr. Big and his men!"

"Indeed we are." said Giles.

"What's up with that?" I asked them. "You would try to frame your friends? Haven't you known Ray and the others for a long time?"

"It's business, fox. It had to be done."

"And what about Madame Foxtrot, you betrayed her too!"

"That old bag? We just stayed close to her for the money. And we've been offered a big reward for doing this."

"Well what do you want with me?" I asked.

"We were hoping you'd join us, Foxy." said a soothing, feminine voice.

I saw the Aurora impersonator walk into the room.

"You…" I said. "I know you're not the real Aurora Foxtrot, who are you?"

She grabbed my snout and got close enough for us to kiss. "You're not just handsome, you're clever too. You're right, I'm not Aurora Foxtrot. My name is Vixen Vulpesavich. I'm the Nocturne Knights' forth Underboss, I replaced that incompetent wolf that couldn't even take care of a stupid otter."

"So you replaced Shadow?"

"That's right, I'd call it a major upgrade for the Knights."

"Don't flatter yourself. You didn't off the otter either."

"No, but it _was_ my idea to use him as one of the first test subjects for the Night Howler serum."

"So you guys really did have something to do with the Night Howler incident?"

"More than that, love. It was our idea in the first place."

"No, it was Bellwether's!" I said.

"Oh please, do you really think that that meek little lamb and her stupid herd of rams could've come up with such a brilliant plan?"

"You turned on your fellow predators like that? Do you know how many lives were ruined?"

"All for the greater good, Foxy. We looked at the bigger picture. You see, Cain was the one who created the serum, such a smart little skunk he is."

"I think the word you're looking for is sociopath." I said.

"Hush, Foxy…I'm talking. Anyway, he gave the instructions to make the serum to that incompetent ram, Doug was it?"

"I don't get it, Bellwether's whole plan was to oppress the predators, and have the prey come to power. That sounds a little counterproductive for a gang of predators."

"Foxy, think about it. With the prey being so oppressive and hostile to the predators, they would have nowhere else to turn to. They would openly join the Nocturne Knights if it meant fighting off the oppressive little lamb and her army of bigoted prey. Then we would have risen up, we would have easily taken down Bellwether. Then taking over Zootopia would have been a breeze. But a certain fox and his stupid, annoying rabbit had to thwart the whole plan."

"Don't you dare talk about Hopps like that!"

"Oh, it seems I've struck a nerve. How cute."

"What are you planning now? What does stealing diamonds have to do with taking over Zootopia?"

"All in good time, Foxy. I will tell you that it's all part of our plan. It was my idea to impersonate Foxtrot's granddaughter to take the Arctic Diamond. It was so easy too. I pretended to be a damsel in distress, and told Shadow that I was kidnapped. Then who do I meet? The gorgeous fox that turned tail on his peers and became a cop. After you _rescued_ me, you took me home to sweet, old grandma. Poor grandma, she's blind you know? And senile, sometimes she even says that I'm not her granddaughter."

"She knew you weren't the real Aurora! I should have put two and two together much sooner."

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Anyway, back to my story. I had already hired these two lovely polar bears to steal diamonds around Tundra Town. You see, we need them for our plan, plus it would shift suspicion to Mr. Big's boys. After all, they all have criminal records."

"You manipulative tramp!"

"Don't try to sweet talk me now, Foxy."

"You make me sick. Tell me, where's the real Aurora, and Madame Shade, what have you done with them?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that."

"You won't get away with this!" I yelled.

She kissed my cheek. "Aw, you're so cute when your upset. We've already gotten away with it, Foxy. You might as well join us, we can make you richer than you could ever imagine. And you'll have me by your side forever and ever, how does that sound?"

I spat in her face. "That'll never happen, you witch!"

She slapped me in the face. "Like it or not, you _will_ help us. I really don't want to kill you, but I will if I must. C'mon boys, bring him down to the vault."

Bobby dragged me down into the basement. I fought the whole way, but I was no match for a polar bear in a situation like this!

Once we got to the basement, I looked up at the giant vault door that was before me, it had an explosive stuck to it!

"I would back up if I were you, boys." said Vixen.

We all stood back as far as we could and she hit a button and the vault door exploded.

"Now that that's out of the way, we can finally get to work." she said. She snapped her fingers and Bobby threw me to the ground.

Vixen knelt down. "Okay Foxy, Your turn. I want you to go into the vault and get the diamond for me. I would ask the Bobby or Giles to do it, but they are much too big, they would get zapped the second they walk in."

"Why don't you get it yourself, I mean you are a sly, conniving little fox."

"You see, we couldn't disable the security system in the vault like we could everywhere else. It's very complicated. And I certainly don't want to get fried if I were to take the wrong step."

"So you want me to risk my life to get the diamond for you?"

"That is correct. You see, I have a lot of affection toward you…but I love myself so much more. So do me a favor and try not to die in there."

"What if I don't do it?"

She giggled. "Then I'll just have to kill you, which would be too bad."

I thought for a moment, perhaps I could make a break for it once I grabbed the diamond…

"Fine…I'll do it." I said.

She hugged me. "I knew you'd see reason!"

I got up and walked toward the vault.

"Avoid the lasers, and mind the floor as you walk. If you step in the wrong place, you'll get electrocuted!"

"Thanks for the concern." I said. I walked into the vault. Inside it was a giant room with lasers beaming from one end of the room to the other. There were also traps on the ground, they all shot out electrical blasts.

 _Well this'll be fun…_ I thought to myself. It was a good thing I was a fox, naturally I was nimble on my feet and I had excellent reflexes. Not to toot my own horn.

I scurried across the floor, avoiding the electrified traps. I flipped over some lasers, crawled under others. I was a fox on a mission. I saw the diamond at the end of the room. I reached the back wall and sidled against it to avoid the remaining lasers. The lasers closest to the diamond were moving around. I lost my footing and slipped, and one of the lasers sliced my cheek.

"Yowch!" I yelled as I grabbed my cheek. I checked to see if I was bleeding. And yup, there was blood alright. Not too much, but enough to make Clawhauser pass out if he saw it.

The laser came at me again, I flattened myself against the wall. I took a deep breath and continued toward the diamond.

Finally, I reached it. I picked the giant diamond up from its pedestal. It was so big, I had to use both hands to hold it, it was as big as my head! And then the alarm sounded. The lasers all turned off, and the walls started to close in on me, I was going to be crushed!

I ran for it, but the electrified areas of the floor were still on. I Had to hop over five or six areas or I would have been shocked and then crushed by the walls.

 _I'm not going to make it!_ I thought. I was about ten feet away from the exit, and the walls were close enough that I could climb them. I closed my eyes and jumped as hard as I could. Luckily, I made it just as the walls came crashing together.

"Nice footwork, Foxy." said Vixen. "Now, give me the diamond."

I stood up and saw an opportunity to run for it. Both Bobby and Giles were behind Vixen, the stairs were wide open.

"I have a better idea…" I said as I made a run for the stairs.

Bobby stepped out in front of me. He was fast for being such a big guy!

"You ain't going anywhere with that, fox!"

He jumped at me and I jumped over him and ran up the stairs. Bobby grabbed my foot and I fell over.

"Don't let him get away!" yelled Vixen.

I took the diamond and hit Bobby over the head with it, and he fell down the stairs. I got up and got out of there as fast as I could run. I ran out of the door and down the street. I had to get this to the station, I just had to. I couldn't let them have it.

All of a sudden, I was surrounded by five or six police cars. Chief Bogo got out of one of them.

I ran over to him. "Chief, thank goodness!"

I was tackled by Delgato and Wolford. "What're you guys doing!?"

Bogo grabbed the diamond, he glared at me with such ferocity.

Vixen and her two lackeys came running from the Foxtrot property.

"Oh, thank you officers for coming. I thought he was going to get away with my grandmother's diamond! It's a good thing that the alarm system contacted you and sent the security footage inside the safe to you." said Vixen in a sweet, innocent voice.

"N-no, no Chief. That's not what this is!" I insisted.

"Get him up!" the Chief yelled.

Delgato and Wolford picked me up after handcuffing me, and Officer McHorn handed Bogo a tame collar. He walked up to me.

"No, stop it! Please let me explain!" I said.

Chief Bogo placed the collar around my neck, and I heard it snap into place.

"Chief, please!"

"I don't want to hear it, Wilde! You're just a no good thief, I saw the footage. Is that why you joined the force? To gain everyone's trust so that when something like this happens, we would think you were innocent?"

"No, that's not-"

"Hush up, fox!" he looked at Wolford. "Muzzle him and get him out of here."

"No, please don't muzzle me. I'll go quietly!"

Wolford grabbed a muzzle from McHorn.

"No…don't, please!" I pleaded. I fought to get free, but I was shocked.

He slipped the muzzle on me.

Memories of my childhood came flooding back.

" _What did I do wrong, guys? Please, tell me what did I do wrong? Please!"_

I tried to get free again, I couldn't stand the muzzle on me. "Please, get it off!"

"Calm down Wilde, I'm warning you!" said the Chief.

"Just take it off!" I said.

I was shocked again, at a higher voltage. My body went numb. They dragged me to a police car and shoved me in.

I heard a voice yelling for me. "Nick!"

"Carrots?"

I looked over and saw Hopps running towards the car. She was stopped by Bogo.

"Carrots! I didn't do it, you have to believe me…Carrots!" I was shocked again, this time it burned my neck.

 _I couldn't believe this was happening, I'm really getting framed for this. That's probably why she made me go in there, just in case I tried to get away. She could have very easily gotten the diamond. The security footage must have just been in the safe, so nobody saw Vixen and the two polar bears on the other side. And my coworkers…my friends, believed the lie! I thought that they trusted me, but I guess the world will always see me as a shady, untrustworthy fox. I mean, I know how it looked, but I would give all of them the benefit of the doubt, I would at the very least hear them out! I really hoped that Carrots still believed in me, I couldn't take it if she didn't…that would kill me._


	13. Chapter 13: Wholehearted Trust

Chapter 13: Wholehearted Trust

-Told by Judy-

I pulled the IV catheter out of my arm and got out of bed. I had to go see if Nick was alright! I was stopped by a zebra nurse.

"Ma'am, you need to go back to bed. You're still in recovery."

"No, I have to go. My fox-I mean my _friend_ , needs me!"

"Ma'am, please go back to your bed."

"I'm not going back to my bed!"

Dr. Leeps came running down the hallway. "What is going on here?" she asked.

"Dr. Leeps, I have to go."

"You will do no such thing, you need to rest up…you just woke up from a coma young lady!"

I started to cry. "But, it's Nick. Something has happened to him, he's in trouble and I have to go to him!"

"Nick is…in trouble?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes, I got a call from a fellow officer. He didn't tell me exactly what was going on, but he sounded frantic. Doctor, I have to go. He's my friend and my partner and I…I love him. There, I said it out loud. I, Judy Hopps, am in love with Nickolas Wilde. I'm head over heels, gaga, crazy in love with him! Please, Doctor. I need to go to him!"

"Well when it comes to the matters of the heart, who am I to get in the way." she said.

"But, Doctor…" said the zebra nurse.

"I'll hear nothing more of it, Jean! She's stable enough, and I'm not going to keep her against her will while the love of her life might be dying in a ditch somewhere. Do keep her from the man she loves would be a sin so grave that it would tear at my very soul. I made a vow as a Doctor to harm none. And it is my duty to make sure this rabbit is not harmed. And the soul is a frail thing, prone to much. It will not be me who shatters the soul of a woman in love."

I started to cry more. "Oh,Doctor…" I hugged her.

"Now, you'll certainly want to change out of your hospital gown." she said.

She walked into my room and got a box from under the table. "Nick took the liberty of gathering some of your clothes, and I do believe your phone is in there too. It's not fully charged of course, but it still has half of the battery left."

I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt and got changed in the bathroom.

I came out and Dr. Leeps threw a set of keys to me. "Please, take my car."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Well it's not like I have anywhere to go tonight. I have to stay here. It's the blue Mustang convertible. So go, go to your fox."

"Thank you…"

I ran outside, still feeling a bit wobbly. I almost fell over a few times, but I couldn't stop. I hopped into the Doctor's very expensive-looking, shiny new car and peeled out of the parking lot. I drove to Tundra Town as fast as I could.

 _Please be okay, Nick._

I reached the Foxtrot estate in record time. Between you and me, I did something absolutely despicable to get there so fast. I…I sped! I broke the law...but desperate times call for desperate measures!

I parked the car down the street from the mansion, there were several cop cars on the Foxtrot property. What was going on?

I got out of the car and made my way up to the driveway. I saw them putting Nick into a cop car, he had a tame collar and a muzzle on him! I started running to him.

"Nick!" I yelled.

He looked over at me, his face was distraught. "Carrots?"

I was stopped by Chief Bogo. "Stop right there, Hopps!"

"Carrots! I didn't do it, you have to believe me…Carrots!" he yelled. He got shocked and he fell backwards. It looked like it really hurt him.

"Chief, what are you doing?!"

"Wilde just tried to steal the Arctic Diamond from the Foxtrot family. We had to arrest him, he's a no good hustler, and thief. Apparently that's all he ever will be."

"That's not true, I can't believe that! Why would he steal the Arctic Diamond?"

He pulled out his phone and showed me the security footage. It _was_ Nick nabbing the diamond. "Sir, there has to be a reason for this. He couldn't have done this without a good reason."

"The reason is he's no good."

I looked at Nick, who was sitting in the cop car, he looked so defeated, so sad. Aurora walked up to him with Wolford standing right there. The car door was still open, and Aurora was talking to him.

I returned my attention to the Chief. "With all do respect, sir. You don't know what you're talking about! He's a good man, I trust him."

"That's the problem, Hopps. You trusted him, we all did as a matter of fact. That's what makes this so terrible. He crept into our inner circle just so nobody would believe that he could have done something like this. But we need to consider his biology."

"Consider…his biology? Are you crazy? Did the Night Howler thing not teach you anything? Anyone can be good or bad, no matter what kind of animal. And Nick…he's not a bad guy."

"The evidence speaks otherwise."

"I don't care what the evidence says, I know he's innocent!"

"How many times have I heard that one before from the perp's family and friends? He did it, Hopps. There's no mistake."

"Please, sir…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But-" I was interrupted by Nick screaming at Aurora.

"I'll kill you!"

I looked at Nick, he lunged out of the car and knocked Aurora to the ground. "I swear, I'll kill you if you try!"

He was shocked again, and he let out a painful cry. Wolford and Delgato picked him up and threw him back into the car and slammed the door.

"Yeah, he's a real prince Hopps. He just tried to kill Ms. Foxtrot!"

"But…I."

"I can't believe you still trust him after seeing all of that! He's led you down the wrong path, rabbit!"

McHorn escorted Aurora to the Chief. She was crying.

"I'm sorry you had to go through such a traumatizing experience, Ms. Foxtrot." said the Chief.

"I just wanted to ask him why he would do something so…horrible. I trusted him, he seemed like such a caring fox."

"It's in his nature, Ms. Foxtrot. I'm afraid that foxes…red foxes, I mean, are just too sly. It's in their DNA. I mean no disrespect, I know that arctic foxes are a different story."

"I agree with you, Chief. I can tell you from experience how sly and sneaky red foxes can be…believe me." her tone of voice was almost boastful.

Aurora turned to me. "Oh you poor, poor bunny! It must be terrible to find out that your partner did something so horrid."

"He didn't do this without good reason."

"What reason would he have to steal from my poor, old grandmother?"

"I don't know, but I trust him."

Her countenance changed, her eyes went from teary eyed to cold and vicious. She hugged me and whispered in my ear. "Poor Hopps, so misguided about her Foxy partner. I think you should let leave well enough alone, or you just might get hurt. I hear the Nocturne Knights are still looking for bunny blood, it would be a shame if something were to happen to you too." her voice was harsh and threatening.

She let go of me. "Please let me know if you need anything, okay?" she said, her voice was kind and soothing again.

Chief Bogo handed the diamond to her. "Here you go, Ms. Foxtrot. Please tell your grandmother that we're going to make sure that the monster who terrorized her and stole her diamond is going to be put a way for a very long time."

"Thank you, Chief. You have no idea how helpful you've been." she said as she trotted off toward Bobby and Giles.

"I really hate to do this to you now, Hopps. I know you've been through a lot recently but I'm going to have to suspend you for six months. Get some rest and come in tomorrow with your gun and your badge." said Chief Bogo. He walked to his car and they all drove away. Nick looked at me through the window. He looked so betrayed, he had the same look when I hurt him during the press conference after we found the predators that were under the influence of the Night Howlers.

 _Nick, I know you're innocent. Something is going on here, and I'm going to find out what it is._

"Pssst." I heard someone whisper.

I looked around. "Who's there?"

"Pssssst, Judy. Over here!"

Clawhauser was hiding behind a tree.

"What are you doing behind that tree?" I asked.

He hobbled over to me. "The Chief doesn't know I'm here. I drove Nick over here because one of the polar bears called him and told him that someone was trying to steal the Arctic Diamond."

"So it wasn't Nick after all, I knew it. He's been framed!"

"He was onto something too, about the case." he said.

"What did he find out?"

"It turns out that the Aurora Foxtrot that just walked away with half of the Arctic Diamond isn't Aurora Foxtrot after all, she's not even an arctic fox!"

"She's not?"

"No, Nick had me run a DNA sample on her. She's not an arctic fox, she's a red fox who's not red…which doesn't make sense to me. I mean how can a red fox be white?"

"That's her species, Clawhauser."

He stared at me blankly for several seconds, then it clicked. "Oh I got it! Now it makes sense!"

"I swear you've got the brains of a sloth sometimes…" I said.

He giggled.

"So if she's not the real Aurora, who is she? And where is the real Aurora?" I asked.

"That's what Nick was gonna find out when we came here, but then he got all arrested and stuff."

"Let's go to Nick's apartment, maybe he left a clue or something."

"Okay, we'll take my car!" he said.

"You mean your beat-up old can that wishes it was a car?"

"Hey, it's not that bad!"

"Yes it is…we'll take the convertible."

"You got a convertible?" he asked gleefully.

"Someone loaned it to me."

We walked to the mustang. Clawhauser got in and squealed. "This is sooooo nice!"

"I know, don't touch anything!" I said.

I started the car and I sped out of there. When we reached Nick's apartment, Clawhauser plopped out of the car like a drunkard.

"I'll be okay, just give me a-urp!" he looked like he was going to vomit.

"I wasn't even going that fast!" I said.

"Yes you were, Hopps…ugh."

"Oh stop being so dramatic, let's go!"

He got up and we walked up to Nick's apartment. I typed in the code.

 **030416**

"You know his passcode?" asked Clawhauser.

"Yeah, it's the day we met." I said as the door beeped and lit up green.

He put his hands on his chubby cheeks. "Aw, that's _so_ cute! He looooves you!"

"Shut up, Clawhauser." I said.

I got out a bobby pin from my pants pocket and picked the actual door lock, and we were in.

"Wow Hopps, you're some kind of ninja-bunny! How did you unlock the door like that?"

"I've locked myself out so many times it's crazy. My mom showed me that trick, and I always carry around a bobby pin in my pocket to be on the safe side."

We walked into his apartment and I turned on the light.

Clawhauser walked over to the coffee table in the living room and picked up an envelope. "These are the DNA results on the fox hair Nick had me send in."

I walked over and took the paper that was in the envelope.

"It says here that the hair belongs to a female red fox, and the isotope tests show she's from somewhere up in Russia."

I looked down at the coffee table, and there was the magazine I had been reading on the red foxes in Russia. There was a sticky note on it with something written down in Nick's handwriting.

 _Aurora imposter:_

 _Red fox_

 _White_

 _From Russia_

 _Possible criminal record?_

 _Previous connection with Nocturne Knights?_

 _Note to self: have Clawhauser run a search on these parameters._

I picked up the sticky note and gave it to Clawhauser. "We need to run a search on these parameters. We may just find out who this fox-girl is and clear Nick."

"Alright, but we're going to have to wait until the Chief leaves for the night. If he sees us working together, I'll get suspended too…and you'll be in even more trouble because you're using police resources on suspension."

"Okay, what is his shift over?"

He looked at his phone. "It's 11:30, so about an hour or so?"

"Sounds like a plan."

I dropped the sticky note and it fell on the floor under the couch. I picked it up, and noticed the carrot pen was under the couch too. I grabbed it.

"Isn't that your pen?" asked Clawhauser.

"Yeah, but I gave it to Nick when he joined the force."

I hit play, and Nick's voice came on.

" _Hey there, Carrots. It's me, Nick. I have to get something off my chest. And since this is going to be erased in the morning and you'll never hear it, I have something to confess…I…love you_."

I hit the stop button. "Wh-what?" was all I could manage to say.

Clawhauser was grinning ear-to-ear. "Tehehe, I knew it! Ooh, don't stop…play the rest of it!"

"This is not the time to-"

"Woman, this is the perfect time…hit play!" he insisted.

I hit the play button, and Nick continued.

" _Now I can't say that it was love at first sight, although I did think you were the cutest bunny I had ever seen. I was just so annoyed by your optimism! But I quickly started to fall for you when we started to work together. And Carrots, I fell hard. I mean, I love you so much it's obnoxious! But I'm so scared to tell you because I know you'd probably just want to stay friends. And our friendship means more to me than anything else this world has to offer. I wish I could tell you, and I wish that you would feel the same way…that way we could get married someday, have some kids, grow old together. You know, all of that happily ever after crap that you read about when you're a kid. But I know that'll never happen, I mean it's not like this is a Disney movie or anything. Wow, I feel better now that I said all of that aloud, I've been keeping it in for too long…"_

I started to cry. "Oh, Nick…"


	14. Chapter 14: Caged Animal

Chapter 14: Caged Animal

-Told by Nick-

I hated the feeling, being forced into a cop car by those who were supposed to be your friends. I felt so betrayed. I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew how it looked. By all accounts I looked guiltier than sin. But nobody would listen to my side of the story. What made things worse was that I had a tame collar on me and a…muzzle. I would have gone quietly, I told them that I would go quietly. And worse still was the embarrassment of it all. I mean, I was thrown into a cop car and Carrots was there to witness it. I could have only imagined what she was thinking. I didn't want to think about it…it tore me up inside.

I couldn't hear what Carrots and Bogo were saying, but I knew it was about me.

 _Please don't think I did this, Carrots. I didn't steal the diamond…at least not like they think I did. I took it so that Vixen and her stupid polar bears couldn't have it. I was taking it to the ZPD. Carrots, please believe in me. If you believe in me, I could take the whole world thinking I was no good. If you were in my corner, that's all that I would need to stand tall._

Vixen walked up to me. Delgato stepped between me and her.

She put on that mask of innocence that she wore so well, hiding the vile woman underneath.

"Would you please let me talk to him, Officer?" she asked in a nauseatingly sweet voice.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that ma'am."

"I need to, for closure. I need to know why he did it." she rubbed her hand on his arm. "Besides, I've got a big, strong lion right here to protect me from the big, bad fox."

Delgato blushed.

"O-okay, Ms. Foxtrot. I'll give you two minutes." he said. He backed up and let her through.

The back door was still open, and she knelt down next to me. She began to shed her crocodile tears. "Nick, why did you do it? Why would you steal from a poor, defenseless old fox like my grandmother?"

I sneered at her. "You'll get found out eventually, you lying tramp. Hopps will figure it out, and when she does you'll go down!"

She took off the mask of innocence and revealed her cold-heart. She got closer to me.

"If you say anything, I will make sure that the next time she makes a trip to the hospital it will be in a body bag. I don't take chances like Cain does, I will make sure that she's dead. And I'll go slow too, make it as painful as possible."

I glared at her with such fierce hatred, I whispered back. "If you try, I _will_ kill you…without remorse. Do _not_ threaten her, or it may be the last thing that you do."

"Please, Foxy. You're hardly in a position to be making threats. And since you're giving me the cold shoulder, I guess I'll just have to heat things up."

She held her hand out just below her mouth. There was a bluish powder in the palm of her hand, and she blew it in my face. It had a very sweet aroma, but as soon as I inhaled it, I started to feel the heat of wrath build up inside of me.

"What…what did you do?" I asked.

"That lovely powder I just blew in your perfect little face is a low dose of the Night Howler serum. It will be in and out of your system in a matter of minutes, and it is virtually undetectable. It doesn't make you go savage, but it can cause blind rage if you inhale it…especially if you're already on edge. I hope you can keep your temper."

I felt the anger welling up, I couldn't control it.

She got even closer to me. "You know, that bunny of yours really is annoying…I think I may just end her life tonight when everyone is gone." she pointed at Hopps, who was still talking to the Chief. She pretended her hand was a gun. "It'll be so easy." she shot the imaginary gun. "Bang!"

My rage deepened.

She continued. "I'll blame it on that old shrew's polar bears, I mean who would question it? Nobody would ever suspect the poor, victimized granddaughter of the renowned Madame Shade Foxtrot. Ooh, the thought of ending that rabbits life makes me all tingly inside. The only thing that would make it better is if you were there to watch it."

"Shut your mouth, witch…I'm warning you." I snarled at her.

"Too late, Foxy…I've made up my mind. Your little Carrot is about to get shredded, you'll never see her again."

She stood up and changed faces again. "I am so disappointed, Nick…Officer Kitty, take him out of here."

I felt the rage grow even more inside of me, it became too much to bear.

"I'll kill you!" I yelled.

I lunged out of the cop car and knocked her over. "I'll kill you if you try! Don't you dare!"

She screamed in faux terror. "Please someone, help!"

The tame collar shocked me again, even more this time. I yelled out in pain, it caused a bigger burn on my neck. Wolford and Delgato picked me up and threw me in the back of the cop car and slammed the door.

"Let me out, you don't understand!" I kicked at the door. I was shocked again.

Vixen looked at me with such convincing terror, I would have believed it if I didn't know she was Satan in white fluff.

"Hush up Wilde, you're making things worse for yourself!" yelled Delgato.

I started to feel more calm, the Night Howler powder was already starting to wear off. I suddenly felt tired, worn out.

I sat back up, my eyes felt heavy. I could feel the burn on my neck, the pain was almost unbearable.

Vixen was escorted to the Chief, he was no doubt trying to comfort her. She hugged Carrots and whispered something in her ear.

 _Whatever she tells you, Carrots, please don't believe her. See past her flowery façade, I know you can._ I thought. I couldn't stand the idea of Hopps giving up on me. It hurt more than the burn on my neck.

Wolford and Delgato got into the car and started it. All of the other officers got in their cars as well. We started to drive away.

I looked out of the window and saw Carrots, she looked right at me. I couldn't look her in the eye, I was too scared…I was too scared that her face would be the face of disappointment and regret.

The entire ride to the Tundra Town jailhouse was excruciatingly quiet. Delgato and Wolford wouldn't so much as acknowledge my presence. Aside from Hopps and Clawhauser, they were my closest friends on the force, or so I thought. When we got there, Delgato grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me out. We made our way inside.

"Wilde…" said Wolford, breaking the silence.

I looked at him. "What? You gonna tell me that I'm a no-good fox too?"

"I-I really want to believe you. But all of the evidence points to your guilt, you even attacked her."

"I know how it looks, believe me. But things aren't what they seem."

"How so?" he asked.

"Stop talking to the creep, Wolford. He's a natural at lying, he fooled us all this time. Red foxes don't have morals like everyone else, he'll try to lie his way out of this."

"Shut up, Delgato! Wilde, answer me…what's going on? I know you're not the bad guy everyone else is saying you are. I saw how you cared about the bunny when we took her to the hospital, and you stayed there with her the whole time."

Delgato snorted. "Hmph, he's probably the one who did it. Just trying to look like a hero, but it all backfired in his face. Dumb bunny probably ate it right up too."

I jerked my arm away from Delgato's grip. "You can say what you want about me, kitty litter. But _don't_ insult Hopps."

He grabbed my arm, his grip got tighter. "Shut it, fox!"

"Stop it, Delgato!" yelled Wolford.

"Don't be an idiot, Wolford! This fox is no good…I hope they put him away for the rest of his life, it'll be one less of his kind off of the streets."

"Why do you lions always have to be so self-righteous? You assume that all other animals are below you, like your God's gift to mammal kind! You don't know how it is for most of us predators. Even in the old days, lions were seen as regal and proud...treated like royalty. You've never had to deal with the crap that the rest of us predators had to go through. I'm a wolf, people always saw me as a mongrel until I joined the force. And Wilde here should not be judged until he is proven guilty. So get off of that lofty perch of yours, your highness!"

"Fine, you wanna hear the lies of a sly fox? Be my guest. Tell us Wilde, why did you steal that diamond and attack the granddaughter of one of the richest women in Zootopia? Whatever reason it is, I'm sure it was for the best." he said in a very patronizing tone.

I began to tell them, but then I remembered Vixen's threat. If I said anything and she found out, they might go after Carrots. I knew the stuff she said about killing her tonight was a bunch of bull-pucky, she told me that to make me mad. She was too smart to risk her plan by doing it tonight. But she would kill Hopps out of vengeance.

"I can't tell you." I said.

"Why not? Don't have a good enough lie yet?" said Delgato.

"That's not it, I just can't tell you. Again, I know what this all looks like, but all I can say is that I have a clear conscience."

"That's if you even have one." said Delgato.

"Is this how you always felt about me?" I asked.

"Shut up, you don't get to talk!" he said.

We walked into the jail. It was cold and dank, but what would you expect from the jailhouse in Tundra Town? I was escorted to a jail cell on the very end of the block. Wolford uncuffed me and Delgato opened the door and threw me in. I hit the concrete floor hard, hurting my shoulder.

He slammed the cell door. "Now be a good little fox and don't cause any trouble, unless you want to get shocked again." said Delgato. He sneered and walked away.

Wolford looked at me, concerned. "You alright, Wilde?"

I got up and rubbed my shoulder. "Yeah, I'm just peachy."

"I'm sorry everyone is acting so messed up toward you. I know you're a good guy, and a good cop. I just wish everyone else saw it right now. If you say there's a good reason you did what you did, I believe you. And I know you got your reasons not to tell me why."

"Thanks Wolford, I really wish things were different. But deep down I know there will always be animals who only see me as shady and untrustworthy…just a no-good sly fox."

"Wolford, come on!" Delgato yelled from across the room.

"I gotta go. Don't worry Wilde, everything will be okay." he said as he walked away.

"Easy for you to say, you're on the other side of the bars…" I said.

"It sucks, doesn't it Red?" said a voice.

I looked over in the cell next to me. "Shadow?"

He was sitting on the cot in his cell. "Yeah it's me."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was framed for something I didn't do?"

I nodded. "I absolutely would…and I bet I know who did it too."

"Yeah, the Nocturne Knights. They finally got me."

"Not just anyone from the Nocturne Knights…it was Vixen Vulpesavich."

He got up and looked at me. "Who?"

"You don't know her? She became your replacement as an Underboss for the gang."

"I've never heard of her, I guess she's from another branch of the Knights."

"Well she's fooled all of us. She impersonated Aurora Foxtrot and played us all for chumps."

"So that fox down on the strip wasn't even Aurora?" he asked.

"Nope, it was Vixen."

He got up and angrily punched the back wall. "That two-timing who-"

"Woah, woah, woah buddy…This is a kid's show!" I said.

"Oops…I mean that two-timing horr-ible fox girl."

"So what did she frame you for?" I asked.

"Attempting to ice Madame Foxtrot."

"What?!"

"Yeah, and they're trying me for many of the Nocturne Knight's victims as well. I never killed anybody even when I was and Underboss. I was promoted because of my conning skills. They were making jokes about putting me to…putting me to sleep."

"That won't happen!" I said.

"How do you know?"

"My partner, she'll figure it out. She'll prove our innocence. I know it…"

"You sound pretty confident in Bunns, Red. You sure she'll figure it out?"

"Even if she's half the girl I know she is, she'll figure it out. She's a clever rabbit, that much I know."


	15. Chapter 15: Confessions

Chapter 15: Confessions

-Told by Judy-

" _Now I can't say that it was love at first sight, although I did think you were the cutest bunny I had ever seen. I was just so annoyed by your optimism! But I quickly started to fall for you when we started to work together. And Carrots, I fell hard. I mean, I love you so much it's obnoxious! But I'm so scared to tell you because I don't want to ruin our friendship, it means more to me than anything else this world has to offer. I wish I could tell you, and I wish that you would feel the same way…then we could get married someday, have some kids, grow old together. You know, all of that happily ever after crap that you read about when you're a kid. But I know that'll never happen, I mean it's not like this is a Disney movie or anything. Wow, I feel better now that I said all of that aloud, I've been keeping it in for too long..."_

The recording was over.

I started to cry. "Oh, Nick…"

Clawhauser was sobbing more than I was. "That's the most…romantic thing I've… ever… heard… in my… life!"

I tried to compose myself. "We-we can't get distracted. We have to get moving. We need to save Nick!"

"You're right, we need to go save your man!" he said, trying to sound serious. He started to giggle again. "Awww, you two are gonna make such a cute couple!"

"Focus Clawhauser!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry, I can't! He admitted how he feels, well not in person but I'll take what I can get. So when you guys get married, can I be the best man? Ooohh, and can you have Gazelle sing at your wedding? Oh, and make sure you have plenty of cake because romantic moments make me hungry, oh and-"

"Clawhauser!"

"What?" he said.

"First of all you're getting way ahead of yourself. Second, we need to get Nick out of jail before we even think of us being a couple…let's hurry."

"That's right, the faster we get Wilde, the faster you two can confess your looooove!"

"I'm going to stab you with this pen if you don't start marching out that door right now." I said.

"Fine…" he turned around and started to walk out of Nick's apartment. I could still hear him giggling as he walked.

I sped to the ZPD and parked down the street so that nobody would see us. We waited for Bogo to leave the premises. When he did, we made our way inside. Clawhauser logged into his computer at the reception desk. He started to type, but stopped.

"Ummm, I don't even know what I'm looking for." he said.

I pushed his chubby self out of the way. "I'll do it."

I started typing in the keywords that Nick wrote on the sticky note. The keys were sticky from Clawhauser's donut habit. I hit the search button.

"We got a hit!" I yelled.

"Be quiet, Hopps…there are still cops around the building."

"Oops, sorry. Let's see here."

She was in the database, but there was only one result and it was not very long.

 _ **Wanted:**_

 _ **Vixen Vulpesavich AKA: the Femme Fatal Fox**_

 _Wanted in four countries across the world, this red fox has committed dozens of crimes including arson, armed robbery, impersonating an officer of the law, causing riots, sabotage, espionage, and murder. Sources say that this red fox is white in color with orange eyes. Photographs of the Femme Fatal Fox are very few and too poor in quality for definite identification. It is speculated that she is involved with the elusive and deadly Nocturne Knights, whose influence is rumored to stretch across the globe. If spotted, assume that she is armed. Use extreme caution, she is very dangerous!_

The pictures they had in the system were indeed too low quality to identify her. We needed more proof.

"This really doesn't help us out much." I said, feeling frustrated.

"What do we do now?" asked Clawhauser.

"We go bust Nick out of jail…"

"You do know that we will both lose our jobs for good, and probably join him in jail if we get caught right?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, you decide for yourself. I can't stand the thought of my fox in that jail cell. He's hurt, they put a tame collar on him, and he was shocked too many times. And they put a muzzle on him, he can't stand muzzles at all because of a traumatizing event when he was a cub. He's all alone in there, probably thinking that nobody believes him. I know he had to have a good reason to do what he did. So yeah, I'm going to bust Nick out of jail."

"This is so romantic…and terrifying. I need a donut." Clawhauser opened up a drawer and grabbed an old, stale donut from it and shoved it in his mouth.

"That's so gross!" I said.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Hopps."

"We need to go, Clawhauser!"

Someone approached us from behind. "You two really planning on bustin' Wilde out of jail?"

We turned around and saw Wolford.

"Wolford? No we…we were just going to-" I stammered.

"I'm in." he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm in. I wanna help bust him out of jail. He's a good guy, and he should not have been treated like that. I'm sick of mammals like Delgato and the Chief condemning him simply because he's a fox. I was there at the crime scene, he said he would go quietly but they put that collar on him and the muzzle. And I know that he attacked that fox broad, but something about her doesn't sit right with me, I feel like she instigated it somehow."

"You're a lot smarter than you look, Wolford. Nick was onto something about her, and we looked into it based on his suspicions. We think that the Aurora Foxtrot that the Chief gave the diamond to is not really Aurora Foxtrot, but rather an impersonator who wanted to get her paws on the Arctic Diamond. My guess is that Nick somehow got it and was on his way to the station when he got arrested."

Wolford's ears shot up. "Wait!" he said. "When we first arrived at the scene, Wilde was almost _happy_ to see us. If he was truly trying to steal the diamond for himself, why would he look so relieved when he found himself surrounded by police?"

Clawhauser stuffed another stale donut in his mouth. "Ooh!" he said after he swallowed the donut whole. "I drove him to the Foxtrot mansion. I should be in jail too, I'm an accomplice. But he went there to check things out. He got a call from one of Madame Foxtrot's polar bears, and they said that someone was trying to steal the diamond."

"Wait…two polar bears. This sounds familiar." I said, pondering. I snapped my fingers in realization. "The diamond thieves!"

Clawhauser and Wolford looked at me, confused.

"Remember the Chief sent me and Nick to talk to Mr. Big about the jewelry store robberies? The two suspects were both polar bears. He assumed that they were two of Mr. Big's boys, but I bet a whole bushel of carrots that the two polar bears were Bobby and Giles! They must belong to the Nocturne Knights as well, Mr. Big said that the gang threatened him recently…and then one of his limos got stolen."

"So the two polar bears are workin' with this fake Foxtrot broad?" said Wolford.

"They must be…but that means that the _real_ Aurora Foxtrot and her grandmother are either in extreme danger or-"

"Iced…iced like a pawpsickle." said Clawhauser. "Hold on… Nick told me that Aurora Foxtrot was a teacher and that she would be in the system. When my buddy in forensics compared the hair Nick gave me to the DNA of Aurora Foxtrot, it was negative. But that means that he was able to compare it to Aurora's, so she really is in the system. We can get more information on her."

I typed Aurora Foxtrot's name and the information I knew about her in the computer and hit search. Her I.D photo popped up.

"My, my Aurora…you've changed." I said.

The photo of Aurora Foxtrot showed a super fluffy, pudgy arctic fox with very large, silver eyes. Her I.D also suggested that she was much shorter than the Aurora we've been dealing with.

Wolford's eyes were glued onto the screen. "Aww, look how cute she is!" he said, way out of character.

"Looks like someone is in looooove." said Clawhauser, giggling again.

"Sh-shut up Clawhauser, I just said she's cute!"

"Wolford loves Aurora, Wolford loves Aurora!" Clawhauser chanted.

"I'm gonna take one of those donuts and shove it right up your nose!" Wolford yelled as he began to chase Clawhauser around the reception desk.

"Guys, we need to focus!" I yelled.

They both stopped and looked at me.

"Sorry, Hopps. What's the game plan?" asked Wolford.

"We need to break Nick out first. We'll need his help to get this Vixen woman, then we'll go to the Foxtrot mansion to see if we can find the real Aurora and her grandmother. They'll be the key witnesses to put that…that…Foxtart in prison forever!"

Clawhauser put his paw on his mouth in shock. "Hopps, I didn't know you had such a potty mouth!"

Wolford was laughing. "This chick must really grind your gears for that to come out of your mouth!"

My face turned red. "I-I…oh forget it. I'll call her a Foxtart to her face after I'm done slapping it into next week!"

"That's the spirit, Hopps!" said Wolford.

"Now let's go get Nick!" I said, trying to sound cool.

"Yeah, let's go get your man!" said Clawhauser, giggling yet again.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's head out…"

We got into Wolford's car and drove to the Tundra Town jailhouse. After we parked, Wolford grabbed a suitcase and told me to hop in.

"Are you crazy? I'm not getting in there!"

"Well they'll know something's up if you just walk in there, you're suspended remember?"

"Fine…" I hesitantly hopped inside of it.

He zipped it up, leaving it cracked a bit so I could breathe.

"Wow Bunny…you're a lot heavier than you look!" he said as we made our way into the station.

"It sounds like you want kicked…" I said.

We walked into the jailhouse, and the receptionist stopped us. It was a grizzly bear cop named Bearington.

"What are you guys doing here so late at night, and what's with the bag?" he asked.

"The Chief wanted me to bring some stuff over and put it in storage. Our closets are getting way too full at the ZPD." said Wolford.

"Okay. Boy you guys need to learn to organize your stuff!" said Bearington. He buzzed us in.

We walked into the main part of the building and down the hall, into the jail cell block. We walked all the way to the end.

Wolford patted the suitcase to get my attention. "Hey Hopps? Hand me that key that's in there with you."

I felt under me and found a key…which explained why I had been so uncomfortable.

"Psst, Wilde...wake up." Wolford whispered.

"Wolford? What are you doing here?" Nick answered back.

 _Oh, it's good to hear his voice again!_ I thought.

Wolford unlocked the cell door and slid it open.

"I got a surprise for ya." He said as he unzipped the bag.

I hopped out.

Nick looked at me in shock. "Carrots?"

"Of course! who did you expect, Minnie Mouse?"

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I couldn't leave you here. I know you're innocent!"

"You, you believe me?"

"Of course I do! Now hold still…" I unfastened his muzzle.

"That's so much better, thanks Carrots!" said Nick.

I got a bobby pin out of my pocket and picked the lock that was on the collar and it fell off of his neck.

I looked at the burn he had on his neck. "Oh, Nick…what did they do to you?"

"It's not that bad…I can hardly feel it." he cringed a little.

"We know about Vixen, you helped us out there. Me and Clawhauser went to your apartment and found the sticky note." I said.

"So you know that she's not the real Aurora?" he asked.

"Yup, and we're all going to go to Foxtrot mansion and crack this case wide open and clear your name!"

He looked down in shame. "I don't want you guys to get in trouble because of me. Besides, even if we do clear my name, nobody will ever look at me and see a trustworthy fox. I mean you should have heard the things Delgato was saying to me…"

I lightly grabbed his chin and lifted it up. I looked him in the eye. "You'll always be a trustworthy fox in my eyes, Nick. And you have Wolford here, and Clawhauser. We know the real you."

He smiled. "Thanks Carrots…your trust is all I really need."

"Oh, I also found something else at your apartment!" I said.

"What is it?" he asked.

I took the carrot pen out of my pocket. "You know, I found the most interesting recording on it."

His eyes got wide and his cheeks turned redder than the rest of his face. "Carrots….I-I can explain! I was-uh, I was just…"

I hit the play button, I had recorded something too.

" _I love you too, you dumb fox!"_

He stared at me in shock. "You…do?"

I kissed him on the cheek. "Of course I do!"

"Even though I'm a fox?"

"I don't care about that…you've proven yourself to be the most trustworthy mammal I know. I…I trust you enough to give you my heart."

"Oh, Carrots." He held me close and kissed me on the lips, it was such a wonderful feeling. It was the moment I had been waiting for, the kiss of true love.

Clawhauser giggled louder than ever. "Tehehehe!"

Wolford was choking back some tears. "It's about time you two got together…"

Nick held me in his arms. "I promise…that I will never leave your side. I'll stick to you like orange on a carrot."

I looked into his glistening green eyes. "I promise to be there for you always, to fight for you. I will make sure the world sees you as the fox that you really are."

He kissed me on the forehead. "I really do love you, Carrots…more than you will ever know."


	16. Chapter 16: Breaking Free

Chapter 16: Breaking free

-Told by Nick-

I held her in my arms. She felt so warm, so comforting. I could have stayed like that forever. I was so overjoyed. She had her face buried in my chest.

 _She loves me, she really loves me! I can't believe this is real…If I had to go through all of this again, just so I could hold her in my arms, I would. A thousand times over, and a thousand times again._

Wolford cleared his throat to get our attention. "Not to break up the cutsy romantic moment here, but we gotta go."

"You're right, let's get out of here Nick. We need to get to Foxtrot Mansion as soon as we can!" said Carrots.

We both got up and walked out of the cell.

"Wait!" I yelled.

"What is it, Wilde? We gotta go!" insisted Wolford.

"We need to get Shadow out of here too, he's in the cell next to mine. Shadow, wake up!"

Shadow rolled out of bed, it was a shock that he could sleep through all of the commotion.

"What is it, Red?" he muttered.

"We're gonna get you out of here."

He looked at us. "Bunns is here too? And who are these guys? It's a full house!"

"Hi Shadow. I'm sorry you're in here, that Vixen has gone too far with this…we need to take her down!" said Carrots.

"You're a fiery rabbit, Bunns…I like it!"

Wolford began to unlock Shadow's cell, but the alarm went off and he dropped the key. "Aw deer pellets!" he yelled.

"You guys gotta go!" yelled Shadow.

"We're not leaving you here, don't be stupid!" I yelled.

"You have to leave me here. Go, expose that wretched beast for who she is!"

I didn't want to leave him there. "Shadow…"

"Go!" he yelled.

I reluctantly agreed. "Okay, but we'll come back for you…we'll clear your name!"

"I don't doubt it, hurry up Red!"

We made a run for it, but we were stopped by three honey badger cops.

"Are you guys helping that thieving fox escape?" one of them asked.

They held out their nightsticks as if they were going to bludgeon us.

"I'll get the fat one!" said the one on the left.

That offended Clawhauser. "What did that little monster just call me?"

The honey badger snickered. "You got cookie dough in your ears, Fatso?"

Clawhauser snapped his fingers. "Oh no you didn't just call me fat!" He began to charge them. The three of them screamed in terror as Clawhauser tackled them to the ground. They were knocked out cold.

Clawhauser got up and stood triumphantly over his knocked down opponents. We all stared at him with shock and amazement, he actually _did_ something that involved movement!

"What are you guys looking at?" he asked.

"Nothing…good job, Clawhauser." I said.

"I did do a good job, didn't I?" he said proudly.

I whispered in Hopp's ear. "Remind me to never get on his bad side…"

Hopps, Wolford and I stepped over the unconscious victims of Clawhauser's chubby rage and ran out of the cell block. We almost made it out of the door, but we were stopped by Bearington.

"You guys are really turning your back on the ZPD for this…fox?"

"Bearington, he's a member of the force too!" insisted Wolford.

"He _was_ a member, you mean? The ZPD doesn't go around stealing from old ladies! He turned his back on us when he stole that diamond. He's nothing but a thieving fox!"

Hopps marched up to him. "It's the ZPD that turned their backs on him for not even letting him explain himself. They assumed the worse because he's a fox. He's a good cop, and he has better character than everyone else here…at least he would hear someone out! The ZPD is supposed to be a proud group of mammals pursuing justice, but what I see here is not justice! The law says 'innocent until proven guilty', doesn't it?"

He looked down at her and laughed. "Boy you sure are a fiery little bunny, aren't you? He was caught red handed. He's guilty, do you know how many cops saw him running from the Foxtrot estate with that diamond? Looks like they were right about you, a bunny can't be a real cop. You're just a naïve little ball of fluff. You're awful cute though, maybe you should stick to being a meter maid."

 _Ooh, he went and said it…he called her cute._ I thought.

Carrots jumped up and drop-kicked him in the face, and he went down.

"Don't call me cute…" she said as she walked past him victoriously. She turned around. "You boys coming?"

We got outside and hopped into Wolford's car.

"Wow Hopps, I've never see such a little critter take down a bear like that! You got yourself a mighty strong girl there, Wilde. Hope you can handle her!" said Wolford as we were zooming to the Foxtrot mansion.

I put my arm around her and drew her close to me. I gently guided her head to my shoulder. "Yeah, she's a tough one alright, until you start scratching right behind her ears."

I started to scratch behind her ears. She slapped my hand. "Stop it Nick, it's time to be serious!"

I nuzzled my nose with hers. "Aww, you're so cute when you're mad."

"Don't call me…well I guess it's okay if _you_ called me cute, you dumb fox."

I kissed her forehead. "Just remember you said that, Carrots…you'll be hearing it more often!"

She looked up at Wolford and Clawhauser. "But if either of you two call me cute, you'll be kissing the pavement!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" said Wolford.

Clawhauser looked down in disappointment. "Okaaayyyy."

We approached the Foxtrot property, it was almost go time!

Clawhauser started to shake a little bit. "So do we actually _have_ a game plan here or are we just gonna barge in and hope that they don't have their guns pointed at us?"

I had it all planned out. "We'll sneak in through the back, I saw a door in the kitchen. With any stroke of luck, they haven't turned the security system back on. They turned it off when they attempted to break into the safe in the basement. Hopefully they're too preoccupied with their successful heist to notice us."

"How do we know they are even there?" asked Wolford.

"I'm sure of it. They're probably waiting for the right time to make an escape, but that's the safest place for them for the time being, or so they think. Everyone sees Vixen as Aurora, and she thinks that I'm in jail and that Carrots is off moping somewhere and that you guys think I'm the bad guy. But she's about to get outfoxed. At any rate, she's not our main concern."

"She's not?" asked Clawhauser.

"No, our ultimate goal tonight is to find the real Aurora and her grandmother. And I have a hunch they're both somewhere in the mansion. My hope is that they are both okay. Our mission is to get Madame Foxtrot and Aurora out safely, if we have a chance to take down-"

"That _Foxtart!"_ Carrots interrupted.

I looked at her, I was shocked. "Woah Carrots, language!"

"Sorry…she just makes me mad. I'd like to take her stupid face and smash it into a wall."

"…Alrighty then. Anyway, if we have a chance to take down-"

"the foxtart…" she muttered.

"Do ya mind, Carrots? I'm trying to be cool and strategic here and you're making it kinda hard."

"Fine, go on."

"Thank you. Now where was I? If we have a chance to take down Vixen and her polar bears we will by all means seize it. But we gotta get those arctic foxes out first!"

Clawhauser nudged Wolford's shoulder. "That won't be an issue with you, will it Wolford? 'Cuz you loooove Aurora!" he said doing his annoying giggle.

Wolford punched him in the arm. "Shut up, Clawhauser!"

We started to swerve.

"Woah, take it easy Wolford!" yelled Hopps.

"Tell Clawhauser to shut his trap!"

"Is it my fault that you love her? Tehehe, why are you acting so defensive?"

"Shut it, cat!"

"Guys, focus! Put on your game faces." I said.

"Sorry." said Wolford and Clawhauser in unison.

"…we can talk about how much Wolford loves her when we're done." I Joked.

Wolford sighed. "You guys don't know what you're taking about…I just think she's cute. Who wouldn't? She looks like a little baby doll."

We pulled into the Foxtrot estate and parked behind a large mound of snow to avoid detection. We made our way to the back of the giant snow-strewn mansion.

"Guys… _huff…_ you're…walking… _huff_ …too…fast." wheezed Clawhauser. He was trailing behind us.

"C'mon Clawhauser, shake a leg!" Carrots yelled back.

"I'm just…gonna lay here and die for a sec…go on without me!"

Wolford got behind him and kicked his rear. "Get going, cat!"

We got to the back of the mansion. Mr. Big's stolen limo was still laying under a pile of snow, barely visible.

I slowly opened the back door, it looked like the coast was clear.

We tiptoed around the first floor of the house, nobody in sight. The house was dark, only a few lights were on in the house.

There was a noise coming from upstairs. The four of us crept up the winding spiral marble staircase that led to the second floor. It was dark up there too. The noise got louder, it sounded like a muffled cry for help. We came across an intricate double doorway, the doors were made of a rich mahogany and stood at least twelve feet high. The noise was coming from the other side of the door. We cracked it open and looked inside. It was a library, and a big one at that! It had two stories of books, and a large window that took up half of the wall. There was a marble fireplace on the far side of the room, and there were two antique leather chairs that were facing it. Upon closer inspection, there were animals in the chairs, and they were tied up!

Hopps and I ran across the library and reached the chairs. It was Madame Foxtrot and Aurora!

They were both struggling.

"Don't worry, we'll free you!" I said. We took off their gags so they could talk.

"Oh thank goodness, we've been tied up like this for who knows how long." said Aurora.

Carrots untied Madame Foxtrot and she jumped out of the chair. "Ooh, wait 'til I get my paws on that wretched girl and those treacherous polar bears. I'll show 'em what this old lady can do!"

"We can worry about them later, Madame Foxtrot. Right now we need to get you two out of here." I said.

A voice echoed across the library. "You won't be going anywhere!"

Vixen was standing in the center of the room, with a gun aimed at us. Bobby and Giles had Clawhauser and Wolford restrained.

"Well, well, well. I really didn't see this coming…my foxy little rogue cop and his stupid rabbit came to pay us a visit. How did you get out of jail, my darling Wilde?"

"That's none of your business." I said.

She waved the gun like it was gaudy jewelry. "Hmm, I guess it doesn't matter…seeing as you'll all be dead soon!"


	17. Chapter 17: The Library Showdown

Chapter 17: The Library Showdown

-Told by Judy-

Vixen was playing with her gun. "Now here's the hard part…who should I kill first?" she walked over to me and Nick. "Hmm, should it be Foxy or the dumb bunny?"

She looked back and forth at the both of us. She pointed the gun at me. "I think I'll take you first, you meddlesome rabbit."

Nick got in front of me, bridging the gap between me and Vixen.

"If you're gonna shoot anyone, shoot me!" he said.

"Nick, what are you-"

He looked behind his shoulder at me, his eyes were fierce and serious. "Stay behind me, Carrots. I mean it!"

"But I can't let you get shot!" I said.

"Listen to me for once!" he said, his voice was scary.

"My, my, my…so eager to die for your stupid farm girl huh? How nauseatingly romantic! I had hoped to kill the rabbit first so that I could see that handsome face of yours revel in misery, I would cherish the memory forever. But if you insist on being the first to go."

"Judy…the carrots are out of the bag." said Nick.

 _That's the code we made up, he wants me to run for it? I'm not going to leave him here to die!_

"Aw, the fear must have gone to your head, you're talking crazy. How adorable!" said Vixen. She pointed the gun at Nick's head.

"I…love you, Carrots." he said.

"Nick…" I said.

Vixen pulled the trigger, but it was a blank. "Bang!" she yelled.

She put the gun down and started to laugh. "Don't worry, Foxy. I won't be killing you or the stupid rabbit, at least not yet. I need you to do something for me first."

"Why would I help you?" he asked.

"Because, if you don't I will end everyone in this room while you watch…then kill you. If you help me, I'll let your rabbit and the Foxtrots go. I'll have little use for them after tonight, and it's not like I need to continue this charade."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Nick, don't help this witch!" I insisted.

He turned around and embraced me. "I don't have a choice in the matter. You gotta live, Carrots. You gotta keep making the world a better place."

"Yeah Judy, you need to keep going!" said Clawhauser.

"What the cat and fox said!" said Wolford.

"See? Wolford and Clawhauser understand. We're going to make sure you and the Foxtrots get out of here." said Nick.

He knelt down and kissed me. "Everything will be okay, trust me." he said.

"Ugh, enough with the hugs and kisses. Get up, Foxy!" said Vixen.

Nick stood up. "What do you need?"

"I knew you'd see reason." she said. She walked over to a desk in front of the giant window. The Arctic Diamond was laying on top of it, she picked it up. "You see this? This was the thing that you got from the vault." She threw it on the ground. "Turns out it's a fake! The old bag thought that she could trick us by placing a zirconium replica of the diamond in the vault."

Madame Foxtrot laughed. "I had a feeling one of you louts would come and try to steal the diamond sooner or later. So I had a fake diamond made, and I put it in the vault."

"Well you know that Giles used to be a jeweler, right? You need to pay attention to who you hire, crone!"

"I didn't know he would betray me like this. And watch your tone, you beastly girl!" said Madame Foxtrot.

"Grandma, don't insult the lady holding the gun…" said Aurora.

"Oh hush yourself, child! I don't see a gun."

"Grandma…you can't see anything."

"That's beside the point, I'm not going to let some vulgar, uncivilized, wretch intimidate me. I don't care if she does have a gun!"

Vixen marched over to Madame Foxtrot and pulled on her ears. "I don't have time for your old lady sass, tell me where the real diamond is!"

Madame Foxtrot hit her in the stomach with her cane, and Vixen fell over.

"Respect your elders, filthy girl! Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

Vixen got up. "You won't listen to me? Fine, looks like I'm going to have to do things the hard way."

Vixen snatched up Aurora, and she screamed.

"What's wrong, Aurora? What's happening?" said Madame Foxtrot.

"I've got your granddaughter, old woman! Tell me where the diamond is or she's going bye-bye!"

"You monsters, how low will you go?" yelled Nick.

"As low as it takes, Foxy!" said Vixen.

"Don't hurt my granddaughter, please. She's all I have left, I'll tell you where the diamond is." said Madame Foxtrot.

Vixen threw her on the ground. "Good, about time you saw things my way! Now, where is the diamond?"

"It's on the second story of this library, on a display down the hall."

"It's been in this library the whole time?" asked Vixen.

"Yes it has, I suppose you're not as smart as you thought or you would have found it a while ago." said Madame Foxtrot.

"Shut your wrinkly old mouth, I've got a diamond to snatch. Now Foxy, you and the rabbit go up with me to get the diamond. I'll have one of you get it for me, just in case the old woman has some kind of trick up her sleeve. I don't want to get electrocuted or burned or whatever other traps she may have up there waiting for me."

"No, I'll go with you…Hopps stays down here!" said Nick.

"So she can escape while I'm up there? I don't think so, she's going with us Foxy!"

"It's okay, Nick. I'm coming with you, I'm not going to let you go anywhere by yourself with that nutcase!" I said.

He looked at me with such concern, but he caved. "Fine, but stay right by me!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I said.

Vixen pointed the gun at us. "I suggest we get moving!"

Nick pulled me in front of him, and he held onto me tightly as we walked up the black steel spiral staircase to the second floor of the library. We got to the top and made our way down a long hall of book shelves. At the end of it was the pedestal with the diamond.

Vixen was standing behind us. "Now grab the diamond, carefully." she demanded.

I walked up and picked up the diamond. It sure was heavy! I struggled to carry it, but Nick helped me steady my balance.

"I got you, Carrots."

"Enough of the cutesy nonsense. Give me the diamond!" said Vixen.

I had an idea. I looked at Nick and he nodded, he must have been thinking the same thing I was.

"Okay, I'll give you the diamond." I said. I threw it at her and it knocked her over.

Nick ran and kicked the gun away from her and snatched the diamond. "Let's go Carrots!"

I ran after him, and we zoomed down the stairs.

"Hurry, we gotta get the guys and the Foxtrots!" I yelled.

Nick ran across the library, but was knocked over by Giles, and the diamond slid across the floor.

Vixen ran down the stairs. "Did you really think that that would work?" She stomped over to me and picked me up by the ears.

"Wherever that diamond slid to, get it Foxy. Or I'll kill the rabbit!"

"Okay, just don't hurt her!" Nick said as he went to go find the diamond.

He came back a few minutes later with the diamond. "I got it, now let her go!"

"Fine." Vixen threw me to the ground. "Now hand me the diamond, slowly!"

Nick handed her the diamond. "Finally, I have my paws on you."

"Now, guys!" yelled Nick.

Clawhauser elbowed Bobby in the face, and knocked him over. Wolford bit Giles in the arm and he let him go. Wolford punched him in the stomach and he also went down. Both polar bears were knocked out.

"Ooh, you'll pay for this!" yelled Vixen.

" _Vixen, we got a problem!"_ said a voice on the intercom. It was Cain's voice, he must have hacked the intercom.

"What is it, Cain? I'm busy!"

" _We're on our way with the helicopter. The cops are coming, get outside now!"_

"What do you mean?"

" _I mean that the cops are headed right to the mansion. I think the gig is up, bring the diamond outside and let's go!"_

She glared at us. "You have no idea how lucky you all are…"

She ran out of the library.

"We have to go after her!" I yelled.

"Carrots, wait!" Nick yelled after me.

I sprinted after Vixen. I couldn't let her get away with the diamond!

She was already outside by the time I caught up to her, and the helicopter had already arrived.

"See you later, rabbit!" said Vixen. She threw the diamond up into the cockpit, and Allister caught it.

I ran and tackled her to the ground. "You're not going to get away with this, Foxtart!" I began to hit her.

"Carrots, look out!" I heard Nick yell.

I looked up and saw a large male bat flying at me from above. He picked me up and flew high into the air.

"Let's see if this rabbit can fly!" said the bat in a deranged voice.

We were thirty feet in the air and he dropped me.

I screamed as I plummeted to the ground. I closed my eyes, I didn't want to look. I knew it was about to get messy.

"I got ya!" I heard Nick yell as I landed.

I opened my eyes, I was on the ground on top of Nick. He had caught me but we both fell.

"Looks like you guys lose, I have the diamond!" Vixen yelled from the helicopter as it began to make its ascent. I could see that I gave her a black eye, which was quite gratifying. The fact that they were flying away with the other half of the Arctic Diamond, however, was not.

"We've got to go after them!" I said as I tried to get up.

Nick grabbed me and pulled me back to him. "There's no need, Carrots."

"What are you talking about? They're getting away with the Arctic Diamond!"

He started to laugh. "No they didn't!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I may or may not have given the fake diamond to Vixen…oopsie!"

"You gave her the fake diamond?"

"Yeah, she said that Giles was the one that noticed it was a fake. She had no idea, so I thought I'd give it a shot."

I punched him in the arm. "Pretty slick, Nick!"

"What can I say, guess I _am_ a sly fox."

We heard police sirens off in the distance, they quickly got closer. Suddenly, there were six police cars before us. Chief Bogo got out of one of them, he was in his Gazelle pajamas. "I can't believe what I'm seeing! Hopps, you actually broke this thieving fox out of jail? And now you two are back at the scene of the crime? Were you two planning on trying to steal the diamond again?"

"You're wrong, Chief!" yelled Clawhauser as he and Wolford made their way to us.

"What are you two doing here?" asked the Chief.

"We were helping Wilde clear his name, he wasn't the one that tried to steal the diamond. It was the Nocturne Knights!" said Wolford.

"A likely story. Blame it on the most elusive gang in all of Zootopia, genius idea! Wolford, you and Clawhauser of off the force as well…your insubordination is surprising. You see what happens to good mammals when they spend too much time with a fox?"

"Bite your tongue, you bigoted buffalo!" yelled Aurora as she and Madame Foxtrot walked out of the house.

"Who are you, lady?" the Chief asked.

"She is my granddaughter, my real one. I'm afraid you and the rest of the ZPD have been hoodwinked." Said Madame Foxtrot.

"M-Madame Foxtrot!"

"Hush Bogo, and listen to your elders! You're the chief of the ZPD, you should have used better judgment in this whole circumstance. That fox and his friends saved my life, as well as my granddaughter's. You should have listened to him when he proclaimed his innocence. That imposter kept me and my Aurora tied up in my own home, while you were out here pointing fingers at this heroic fox. You should be ashamed of yourself, sir!"

"But Madame, the fox escaped from custody…and three officers broke him out. You can't tell me that's the right thing to do."

"Don't 'but Madame' me, sonny! If he didn't break out, Aurora and I would probably be dead. I'm glad he got out!"

"I still have to arrest them, Madame. They broke the law."

"Stubborn man, you sure you're not a mule instead of a buffalo? It looks like I'm going to have to call up Mayor Lionheart to get a pardon."

"No no, you don't have to bother the Mayor at this late hour. I guess I'll let them off with a warning…"

"And give them their badges back?"

Chief Bogo grunted. "…Yeah I guess."

Madame Foxtrot hit the Chief in the back of the leg with her cane. "Don't take that tone with me, you better straighten up, boy! I know your mother, we play bingo together on the weekends. Don't make me tell her you've been such a jerk!"

"Yes, Madame Foxtrot…"

"Now apologize to the fox and the rabbit, and the cougar and the coyote."

"Umm, I'm a cheetah Madame." said Clawhauser.

"And I'm a Wolf." said Wolford.

"Quiet you two!" yelled Madame Foxtrot. "Now Chief, apologize."

"I'm sorry Wilde, and Hopps…and Wolford and Clawhauser. I greatly misjudged the situation, and your character. Could you ever forgive me?"

Nick walked up to the Chief and looked him in the eye. "Yeah I can forgive you…but I can't work for you, Sir."

Bogo was surprised. "Why is that?"

"Because you obviously don't trust me, and neither does most of the ZPD. I can't work somewhere where nobody trusts me. Who's to say this won't happen again? Sorry, Sir…I resign."

I walked up and grabbed Nick's hand. "I resign too. Where the fox goes, I go!"

Nick looked down at me and smiled. "Thanks, Carrots."

"If the fox and rabbit are going, then I'm afraid I am too Chief." said Wolford.

Clawhauser started weeping. "I…really hate conflict but…I'm gonna quit too!"

Chief Bogo got aggravated. "Well what are you four going to do then, work at Caribou Coffee?"

Nick grinned. "No, we're gonna open our own detective agency!"

I looked at him. "We are? I mean, of-of course we are!"

"And Wolford and Clawhauser are gonna come work with us." said Nick.

"It would be my honor!" said Wolford.

"As long as I don't have to run…" said Clawhauser.

"And where are you going to get the funding for such a venture?" asked the Chief.

"From me, of course!" said Madame Foxtrot. "I mean I have millions of dollars I don't know what to do with…and I'm sure Mr. Big will help out as well."

"See? We got it all planned out, Sir!"

 _Yeah, and it only took forty-five seconds…_ I thought.

Bogo took a deep breath. "Okay…if that's what you want to do, I will give you my blessing. Not that you need it, I really am sorry. I got bullheaded, we all did."

"That means a lot, Sir." said Nick.

"Now there are two naughty polar bears that are unconscious in the library, be a dear and take them away."

"Yes, Madame Foxtrot…" said the Chief as he, Delgato and McHorn walked into the mansion.

"Are we really opening up our own detective agency?" I asked.

Nick laughed. "Why not? I mean we've got the credentials, we've got a good team, and I guess we have a loan. Let's do it!"

"You're right, and now we can play by our own rules!" I said.

"Wow, Wilde really has had an influence on you. You're usually so strict about following the rules." said Wolford.

"I still am. I mean, rules are made for a reason, but sometimes we need a little flexibility to do what's right."

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the rabbit that I love so much! Isn't she the greatest?" said Nick.

I grabbed his tie and pulled him down to me. "I am the greatest, aren't I?" I kissed him.

"And that is yet another reason I love you…"

"I love you too, Nick." I said.

Chief Bogo and the others came out with Bobby and Giles, who were swearing by their innocence. They were thrown in the back of a cop car, and they all zoomed off.

"Well now that that's all out of the way, what do you say to having some tea and cookies?" said Madame Foxtrot.

"But Grandma, remember your blood sugar?" said Aurora.

"Hush, child! An old woman needs to have some fun once and a while. Come on in, everyone!"

We all headed inside for a well-deserved celebration.

Aurora tripped up the stairs, but Wolford caught her.

"Watch your step, Ms. Aurora…"

She looked up at him and blushed. "Oh thank you, Officer Wolford. Or should I call you Detective Wolford now?"

He blushed. "Oh, you can call me Michael, or Mike, or Mikey."

"Oh okay, Mikey then."

We went in the house and feasted on cookies and tea. Aside from Vixen escaping, the case was successful. She didn't get away with the real diamond, and we saved Madame Foxtrot and the real Aurora. We also cleared Nick's name, and hopefully Shadow's too. There was one problem though, the Nocturne Knights did have one half of the Arctic Diamond…and they'll eventually find out that the other half they acquired was a fake. I knew they would strike again, the only question was when.

I was deep in thought when Nick interrupted my inward conversation.

"You alright, Carrots?"

I looked at him. "Hmm? Oh yeah, just thinking!"

"Today was a victory, we won. Don't beat yourself up about Vixen escaping, we'll get her!"

It was scary, he practically read my mind. "I'm sorry, you know how I overthink things."

"You do overthink things, but everything turned out alright!"

I looked at him and noticed the burn on his neck. It looked so painful. I started to tear up thinking about everything that happened to him.

He put his arm around me. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Like I said, we'll get her.."

"It's not that…I'm upset because of everything that happened to you. You were humiliated and hurt because you did the right thing, and look at what they did to you." I lightly touched his burn.

He grabbed my hand and looked at me with care. "Carrots, I would go through it all over again a thousand if I got the same outcome. This whole crazy thing brought the two of us together, so don't be upset. It's okay!"

I buried my head in his chest. "I just wish you didn't have to go through that…I hated seeing you go through so much."

"You bunnies…so emotional." he said as he kissed the top of my head.

We stayed like that for a long time. He eventually pulled away from me. "So…uh, I've got a question now that we know how each other feels." his cheeks turned super red.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Would you…uh, would you like to go out on a…you know, a-"

"Date?"

"Yeah, one of those!"

"I'll have to think about it…"

"Oh, alright…" he said, disappointed.

I punched him in the arm. "You dumb fox! Of course I'll go on a date with you!"

"Really?" he asked.

"Tell me where and when and I'll be ready!"

"How about tomorrow night, I'll pick you up at 7? I've already got it it all planned out, I have for a while now, actually."

"Sure, it's a date!" I said.

He started jumping up and down with excitement. "YES! You won't regret this, Carrots! It'll be the best night of your life!"


	18. Chapter 18: Like a Fairy Tale

Chapter 18: Like a Fairy Tale

-Told by Judy-

And so the next day came. I could hardly wait for seven o' clock to come, the anticipation was killing me. My heart raced faster and faster the closer it got to seven.

 _What could that fox have planned?_ I thought as I was getting ready for the night.

I got a knock on my door precisely at seven. I opened the door and there he was. He was standing up as straight as he could, with the goofiest grin I had ever seen. He had a bouquet of flowers in one hand, and a box of candied carrots in the other.

"I-uh…I got these for you, C-Carrots." It sounded like he was more nervous than I was.

He handed me the flowers and the candy. "Thank you, Nick. That's so sweet!"

I walked to the table and put the candy down, I got a vase to put the flowers in.

"So where are we going?" I asked as I was pouring some water into the vase.

"That's a surprise, I'm not telling you 'til we get there." he said.

"Should I be worried?"

He laughed. "Heck no! C'mon Carrots, I planned this out a long time ago. I think you'll love it!"

He held my hand, his touch was so gentle. We walked out of my apartment into the beautiful night. Raymond was waiting for us in Mr. Big's best limousine. Nick opened the door for me and took a bow. "After you, Milady." he helped me into the limo and hopped in himself.

"Hey there, Hopps!" said Raymond.

"Hi Ray, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm great now. You and Wilde really did Mr. Big a solid! You guys saved all of us from going to prison, and the boss wants to repay you."

"You don't need to do that, it was our pleasure!"

Raymond laughed. "Well, Wilde here already cashed in the favor."

"Ray, hush!" said Nick.

"Oops, ignore me…I'm just gonna roll up the privacy window so you two can have some alone time."

"What's he talking about?" I asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all. You know polar bears, sometimes they just start talkin' crazy!"

Ray pulled out of the parking lot and we went on our way to who knows where.

"Would you please tell me where we're going?" I asked.

"I told you It's a surprise, Carrots."

I started to get really nervous, where was he taking me on our first date? He said he had been planning this for a while, so what did he have in store for the evening?

We drove for about ten minutes, and Nick got something out of his back pocket. It was a bandana. "So I know that this is gonna sound a little creepy, but I need you to do something for me okay?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need you to wear this blindfold. I don't want you to know where we're going, it'll ruin the surprise."

"Do I have to?"

"No you don't _have_ to, but I want you to be as impressed as possible…you don't want to hurt my ego do you?" he laughed.

"Fine…but if you're playing a prank on me you're gonna get beat!" I said.

"I wouldn't do such a thing! Well not tonight, anyway."

He put the bandana around my eyes.

"Be honest, can you see anything?" he asked.

"Nope, I can't see a thing."

"Good. Oh, Carrots…you are gonna love it!"

We drove for another five minutes, give or take, and stopped.

Nick grabbed my hand. "Alright Carrots, I'm gonna help you out of the car."

He guided me out, it felt like we were on grassy terrain. He picked me up and held me in his arms.

"You're seriously not going to carry me off somewhere are you? I can walk, you know!" I said.

"I know. I just want to carry you, thought it would be more romantic and junk." he said.

I blushed.

He started to walk. I could hear him walk through leaves, and I could hear the crickets chirping loudly. Off in the distance, there was the sound of running water.

 _We must be in Central Park._ I thought to myself.

He carried me for a good twenty minutes. "Nick, are we almost there?" I asked.

"Yup, it's just up this hill." he said.

He stopped and put me down.

"You ready to be amazed?" he asked.

I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be!"

He removed the blindfold, and what I saw looked like it was from a fairy tale! We weren't in Central Park, we were on the outskirts of Downtown Zootopia, far away from the hustle and bustle. We were on top of a grassy hill overlooking the city, it was glistening off in the distance. There were fireflies glowing all around us. There was a makeshift pavilion with lanterns strewn out between the trees.

Nick guided me up to the pavilion. He brought me to the small, round table in the center of the it. He pulled out one of the chairs and directed me to sit. I sat down and he pushed in my chair, then he went and sat down on his side.

There were candles on the center of the table, and the flames were glowing softly. There were rose petals on the table, Nick really went all out!

Kevin, another one of Mr. Big's polar bears, approached us with two plates. He set one before me, and the other before Nick. The plates were very expensive-looking china.

The food looked delicious! I had carrot fettuccini with timothy hay finely ground on top of it, and Nick had shrimp scampi. Kevin came back with a bottle of carrot champagne and poured it into a glass and handed it to me. He gave Nick a glass of sparkling cider.

"I'm speechless, Nick. I really don't know what to say…" I said in awe.

"It ain't over yet, Carrots!" said Nick. He snapped his fingers and a dozen shrews walked onto to pavilion, each of them were wearing a suit and tie and carrying an instrument. It was the Little Rodentia Orchestra!

They began to play on their flutes, violins and trumpets. The sound was magical.

"Nick, how did you do all this?"

"That doesn't matter, Carrots. What matters is that you have an unforgettable night!"

After we ate, Nick got up and held his hand out. "Would you give me the honor of dancing with me?"

I grabbed his hand and he led me to the dance floor. We slow-danced outside under the moonlight for hours. It really was something out of a fairy tale…I felt like a princess dancing with my beloved prince.

"Carrots?" asked Nick as we were dancing.

I looked into his emerald eyes. "Hmm?"

"I really thought I lost you that night that we chased Cain and Alister up that roof. It scared me to death…if I lost you, I would have lost my whole world. I'll thank God every day for the rest of my life that you're here with me. I couldn't go on without you, you've made me the fox that I am today. You believed in me when nobody else would. You…you make me stronger as a man." His eyes started to fill with tears.

"I thought I lost you too, when they took you away in that police car. I knew you were innocent, but nobody would listen. I love you Nick, I love you more than the very air I breathe."

"I love you too, Carrots…" He kissed me.

We stayed on the dance floor like that into the night. All of my worries were cast to the wind when he held me close to him. Everything was perfect that night. But it would mark the beginning of a long and difficult journey. But as difficult as it would be, it would be worth every second because we we were going to walk it together. Little did I know exactly how hard the journey would be…for in the shadowy storm of the future, the Nocturne Knights would be waiting for us, ready to strike at any moment. But the love we had for each other would give us a strength neither of us knew we had…


End file.
